Sediment record of the last 1.8 Ma in the Amundsen Sea

Records of glaciomarine deposition recovered from the West Antarctic continental margin in the Amundsen Sea allow the reconstruction of the behaviour of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in response to the natural climatic changes of the last 1.8 million years. Contents of gravel-sized and lithogenic components represent the input and redeposition of glaciogenic debris, whereas variations in the proportions of the calcareous sediment fraction reflect palaeoproductivity changes. All proxies, which are regarded as sensitive to a WAIS collapse, changed markedly during the global climatic cycles, but do not confirm a complete disintegration of the WAIS during the Pleistocene.从阿蒙森海西南南极大陆边缘获取的冰川海洋沉积记录，可用于重建过去180万年以来西南极冰盖（West Antarctic Ice Sheet, WAIS）响应自然气候变化的演化行为。砾石级组分与岩源组分的含量表征了冰川成因碎屑的输入与再沉积过程，而钙质沉积组分占比的变化则反映了古生产力的波动。所有被认为对西南极冰盖崩塌具有响应敏感性的代用指标，在全球气候旋回期间均发生了显著变化，但并未证实更新世时期西南极冰盖发生过完全解体。