Deglacial to Recent Paleoceanography of the Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica: A Multi-proxy Study of Ice-ocean Interactions at the Outlet of the Aurora Subglacial Basin

At present, Antarctica’s glaciers are melting as the Southern Ocean warms. While glacial retreat in West Antarctica is linked to ocean warming, less is known about the response of East Antarctica’s glaciers. Totten Glacier, located on the Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica is presently retreating. Totten’s retreat is important because it is associated with warm ocean waters and because the glacier drains part of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet that contains enough ice to raise global sea levels ~3.5 meters. Mud accumulating on the seafloor around Antarctica is composed of sediment from the adjacent continent, as well as the skeletons and debris from microscopic marine organisms. As mud accumulates, so does a record of past environmental changes, including ocean temperatures and the advance and retreat of glaciers. Scientists use a variety of physical and chemical analyses to determine how long ago this mud was deposited, the temperature of the ocean at that location through time, and the relative location of glacial ice. In this project, researchers from the University of South Florida will refine and test new geochemical thermometers to better understand the influence of ocean temperatures on East Antarctic glacier extent over the last ~16,000 years. Results will be integrated into ice sheet and climate models to improve the accuracy of predictions.