Abstract

The causes of the recent increase in Antarctic sea ice extent, characterised by large regional contrasts and decadal variations, remain unclear. In the Ross Sea, where such a sea ice increase is reported, 50% of the sea ice is produced within wind-sustained latent-heat polynyas. Combining information from marine diatom records and sea salt sodium and water isotope ice core records, we here document contrasting patterns in sea ice variations between coastal and open sea areas in Western Ross Sea over the current interglacial period. Since about 3600 years before present, an increase in the efficiency of regional latent-heat polynyas resulted in more coastal sea ice, while sea ice extent decreased overall. These past changes coincide with remarkable optima or minima in the abundances of penguins, silverfish and seal remains, confirming the high sensitivity of marine ecosystems to environmental and especially coastal sea ice conditions.

Details

Title
Holocene sea ice variability driven by wind and polynya efficiency in the Ross Sea
Author
Mezgec, K 1 ; Stenni, B 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Crosta, X 3 ; Masson-Delmotte, V 4 ; Baroni, C 5 ; Braida, M 6 ; Ciardini, V 7 ; Colizza, E 6 ; Melis, R 6 ; Salvatore, M C 5 ; Severi, M 8 ; Scarchilli, C 7 ; Traversi, R 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Udisti, R 8 ; Frezzotti, M 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Siena, Italy; Department of Mathematics and Geosciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy 
2  Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics e Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venezia, Italy; Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes—CNR, Venezia, Italy 
3  UMR-CNRS 5805 EPOC, Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Pessac cédex, France 
4  LSCE (IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris Saclay), Bat 701 L’Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette cédex, France 
5  Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources—CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa, Italy 
6  Department of Mathematics and Geosciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy 
7  ENEA, SP Anguillarese 301, Roma, Italy 
8  Department of Chemistry “Ugo Schiff”, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy 
Pages
1-12
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Nov 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01455-x
ProQuest document ID
1961024503
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.