NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Yokoyama et al 2000 Timing LGM from Observed Sea-level Minima

During the Last Glacial Maximum, ice sheets covered large areas in northern latitudes and global temperatures were significantly lower than today. But few direct estimates exist of the volume of the ice sheets, or the timing and rates of change during their advance and retreat. Here we analyse four distinct sediment facies in the shallow, tectonically stable Bonaparte Gulf, Australia—each of which is characteristic of a distinct range in sea level—to estimate the maximum volume of land-based ice during the last glaciation and the timing of the initial melting phase. We use faunal assemblages and preservation status of the sediments to distinguish open marine, shallow marine, marginal marine and brackish conditions, and estimate the timing and the mass of the ice sheets using radiocarbon dating and glacio-hydro-isostatic modelling. Our results indicate that from at least 22,000 to 19,000 (calendar) years before present, land-based ice volume was at its maximum, exceeding today's grounded ice sheets by 52.5 × 106 km3. A rapid decrease in ice volume by about 10% within a few hundred years terminated the Last Glacial Maximum at 19,000 ± 250 years.

本存档古气候学（Paleoclimatology）研究数据集可从美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）下属的国家环境信息中心（National Centers for Environmental Information, NCEI）获取，该机构隶属于古气候学世界数据服务（World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, WDS）。该研究对应的NCEI研究类型为古海洋学（Paleoceanography）。数据集涵盖印度洋区域的古海洋学参数，时间覆盖范围为距今39000年至现今，时间单位为距今年份（BP, Before Present）。如需了解参数与研究区域的详细信息，请查阅元数据（metadata）说明。使用本数据集时请引用该研究。