A glacial chronology for sub-Antarctic Marion Island from MIS 2 and MIS 3

It is increasingly apparent that local and regional factors, including geographic location, topography and climatic variability, strongly influence the timing and extent of glaciations across the Southern Hemisphere. Glacial chronologies of sub-Antarctic islands can provide valuable insights into the nature of regional climatic variability and the localised response(s) of glacial systems during periods of climatic change. With new cosmogenic 36Cl exposure ages from Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean, we provide the oldest dated terrestrial moraine sequences for the sub-Antarctic islands. Results confirm that a local Last Glacial Maximum was reached prior to ∼56 ka when ice retreated with localised stand still events at ∼43 ka and between ∼38 and 33 ka. Evidence of ice re-advances throughout MIS 2 are limited and particularly absent for the cooling periods at ∼32 and ∼21 ka, and retreat continued until ∼17 ka ago. Any MIS 1 readvances on the island would be confined to altitudes above 900 m a.s.l. but the Holocene exposure ages remains to be documented. We compare Marion Island's glacial chronology with other sub-Antarctic islands (e.g., the Kerguelen archipelago, Auckland and Campbell islands and South Georgia) and review the evidence for a Southern Hemisphere glacial maximum in late MIS 3 (∼41 ka). At a regional scale we recognize sea surface temperatures, sea ice extent and the latitudinal position of the Southern Westerly Wind belt as key controls on equilibrium-line altitudes and ice accumulation due to their influence on air temperature and precipitation regimes. At an island scale, geomorphological mapping shows that deglaciation of individual glacier lobes was a-synchronous due to local physiographical and topographical factors controlling the island's micro-climate. We suggest that variability in deglaciation chronologies at smaller scales (particularly at the sub-Antarctic Islands) are important to consider when untangling climatic drivers across the Southern Ocean

Late Glacial-Holocene cirque glacier chronology on sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Archipelago (49°S) based on cosmogenic 36Cl exposure dating

Sub-Antarctic glacier chronologies can provide valuable information about the past variability of climate dynamics in the Southern Ocean region. The Kerguelen Archipelago (49°S) is advantageously located under the influence of the Southern Hemisphere's westerly wind belt, thus fluctuations of climate-sensitive glaciers on Kerguelen can provide a baseline for understanding the behavior of this atmospheric regime in response to climatic forcings. We present 17 36Cl exposure ages of moraine and erratic boulders to provide chronological constraints to paleoglacier extents of the Guynemer cirque glacier, located just north of the Cook Ice Cap. Erratic boulders show ice thinning in the Guynemer region started to occur in the Late Glacial by 13.5 ka and continued past 12.4 ka. Ice retreat was punctuated by the formation of two moraine stages, the outermost at 11.5 ± 0.4 ka followed by another at 10.4 ± 1.2 ka, which are indicative of Early Holocene glacier advances/standstills. A glacial advance occurred at 1.4 ± 0.3 ka, which corroborates other Late Holocene re-advances elsewhere on the archipelago. Finally, three undated moraine stages are found between 1.4 ka and the 1960s. The lack of moraines after 10.4 ka and through the Mid-Holocene suggests that the Guynemer glacier was significantly smaller during this extended period of the Holocene compared to its Early Holocene as well as its Late Holocene limits. The Guynemer glacier history provides unique evidence of Early Holocene moraines on Kerguelen, which have not been discovered thus far on the archipelago. Similar to glaciers in Patagonia, New Zealand and South Georgia, the Guynemer glacier was at its largest Holocene extent in the Early Holocene. However, while other southern mid-latitude glacier chronologies show progressively smaller glacial extents throughout the Mid- to Late Holocene, the Late Holocene re-advance of the Guynemer glacier, like other Kerguelen glaciers, likely exceeded its Mid-Holocene extent

The deglacial history of 79N glacier and the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream

Acknowledgements This work was funded by NERC Standard Grant NE/N011228/1. We thank the Alfred Wegner Institute, and particularly Hicham Rafiq and Daniel Steinhage, for their significant logistic support through the iGRIFF project. Additional support was provided from Station Nord (Jørgen Skafte), Nordland Air, Air Greenland, the Joint Arctic Command and the Department of Geography, Durham University. Naalakkersuisut, Government of Greenland, provided Scientific Survey (VU-00121) and Export (046/2017) licences for this work. We would also like to thank our Field Ranger Isak (Nanu-Travel) and dog Ooni for keeping us safe in the field. TCN Sample preparation was carried out at the National Environmental Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre under grant allocation 9185.0814. Chris Orton in the Cartographic Unit, Geography, Durham University edited several figures. This paper is dedicated to Mr Arnold Jones – a true Quaternarist.Peer reviewe

Reconstructing the recent failure chronology of a multistage landslide complex using cosmogenic isotope concentrations: St Catherine's Point, UK

The pre-existing multistage landslide complex at St Catherine’s Point comprises a series of large rotational and translational failures that form the western section of the Isle of Wight Undercliff, UK. Cosmogenic beryllium and aluminum concentrations extracted from chert samples of the Upper Greensand are used to date the most recent sequential failure events. We use our understanding of the failure mechanics and landslide geomorphology to produce a cosmogenic exposure model that incorporates pre-failure topography into our shielding calculations. This method allowed us to date two successive landslides at the site using 10Be, the most recent of which occurred ~1064 ± 348 (± 1 σ) 10Be years ago, much more recently than was previously thought. An earlier failure event is dated at ~3471 ± 348 10Be years, supporting the hypothesis that the St Catherine’s Point landslide complex was reactivated by relative sea-level rise at the end of the Holocene Climatic Optimum period

The deglacial history of 79N glacier and the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream

The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the main artery for ice discharge from the northeast sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) to the North Atlantic. Understanding the past, present and future stability of the NEGIS with respect to atmospheric and oceanic forcing is of global importance as it drains around 17% of the GrIS and has a sea-level equivalent of 1.6 m. This paper reconstructs the deglacial and Holocene history of Nioghalvfjerdsbræ (or 79N Glacier); a major outlet of the NEGIS. At high elevation (>900 m asl) autochthonous blockfield, a lack of glacially moulded bedrock and pre LGM exposure ages point to a complex exposure/burial history extending back over half a million years. However, post Marine Isotope Stage 12, enhanced glacial erosion led to fjord incision and plateaux abandonment. Between 900 and 600 m asl the terrain is largely unmodified by glacial scour but post LGM erratics indicate the advection of cold-based ice through the fjord. In contrast, below ∼600 m asl Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden exhibits a geomorphological signal indicative of a warm-based ice stream operating during the last glacial cycle. Dated ice marginal landforms and terrain along the fjord walls show initial thinning rates were slow between ∼23 and 10 ka, but post-10 ka it is evident that Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden deglaciated extremely quickly with complete fjord deglaciation below ∼500 m asl between 10.0 and 8.5 ka. Both increasing air and ocean temperatures were pivotal in driving surface lowering and submarine melt during deglaciation, but the final withdrawal of ice through Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden was facilitated by the action of marine ice sheet instability. Our estimates show that thinning and retreat rates reached a maximum of 5.29 ma−1 and 613 ma−1, respectively, as the ice margin withdrew westwards. This would place the Early Holocene disintegration of this outlet of the NEGIS at the upper bounds of contemporary thinning and retreat rates seen both in Greenland and Antarctica. Combined with recent evidence of ice stream shutdown during the Holocene, as well as predictions of changing ice flow dynamics within downstream sections of the NEGIS catchment, this suggests that significant re-organisation of the terminal zone of the ice stream is imminent over the next century

Early glacial maximum and deglaciation at sub-Antarctic Marion Island from cosmogenic 36Cl exposure dating

Southern Hemisphere glacial chronologies can provide valuable insights into interactions between glaciation and past climate changes, but are not well constrained on most sub-Antarctic islands. We present the first cosmogenic 36Cl exposure ages of deglaciated bedrock surfaces and moraine deposits from sub-Antarctic Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Results show that the ice reached a local Last Glacial Maximum before 34 ka and retreated, with no re-advances, but possibly minor stand stills, until ∼17 ka. This early deglaciation left island surfaces below 850 m a.s.l. ice-free after ∼19 ka, and any subsequent advances during the Antarctic Cold Reversal or Holocene cooling periods would have been restricted to the interior. This glacial chronology is similar to that of some other sub-Antarctic Islands (e.g. the Kerguelen archipelago, Auckland and Campbell islands, and possibly South Georgia) and a number of other Southern Hemisphere glaciers (e.g. in Patagonia and New Zealand) and adds to evidence that suggest the Southern Hemisphere was in a glacial maxima earlier than the global LGM. We suggest a combination of declining temperatures, a northward migration of oceanic fronts and the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (causing precipitation changes), as well as the physiography of Marion Island, created optimal conditions for glacier growth during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 instead of MIS 2. Our findings redefine the glacial history of Marion Island, and have implications for future investigations on post-glacial landscape development and ecological succession

Late Glacial-Holocene cirque glacier chronology on sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Archipelago (49°S) based on cosmogenic 36Cl exposure dating

Sub-Antarctic glacier chronologies can provide valuable information about the past variability of climate dynamics in the Southern Ocean region. The Kerguelen Archipelago (49°S) is advantageously located under the influence of the Southern Hemisphere's westerly wind belt, thus fluctuations of climate-sensitive glaciers on Kerguelen can provide a baseline for understanding the behavior of this atmospheric regime in response to climatic forcings. We present 17 36Cl exposure ages of moraine and erratic boulders to provide chronological constraints to paleoglacier extents of the Guynemer cirque glacier, located just north of the Cook Ice Cap. Erratic boulders show ice thinning in the Guynemer region started to occur in the Late Glacial by 13.5 ka and continued past 12.4 ka. Ice retreat was punctuated by the formation of two moraine stages, the outermost at 11.5 ± 0.4 ka followed by another at 10.4 ± 1.2 ka, which are indicative of Early Holocene glacier advances/standstills. A glacial advance occurred at 1.4 ± 0.3 ka, which corroborates other Late Holocene re-advances elsewhere on the archipelago. Finally, three undated moraine stages are found between 1.4 ka and the 1960s. The lack of moraines after 10.4 ka and through the Mid-Holocene suggests that the Guynemer glacier was significantly smaller during this extended period of the Holocene compared to its Early Holocene as well as its Late Holocene limits. The Guynemer glacier history provides unique evidence of Early Holocene moraines on Kerguelen, which have not been discovered thus far on the archipelago. Similar to glaciers in Patagonia, New Zealand and South Georgia, the Guynemer glacier was at its largest Holocene extent in the Early Holocene. However, while other southern mid-latitude glacier chronologies show progressively smaller glacial extents throughout the Mid- to Late Holocene, the Late Holocene re-advance of the Guynemer glacier, like other Kerguelen glaciers, likely exceeded its Mid-Holocene extent

The deglacial history of 79N glacier and the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream

The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the main artery for ice discharge from the northeast sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) to the North Atlantic. Understanding the past, present and future stability of the NEGIS with respect to atmospheric and oceanic forcing is of global importance as it drains around 17% of the GrIS and has a sea-level equivalent of 1.6 m. This paper reconstructs the deglacial and Holocene history of Nioghalvfjerdsbræ (or 79N Glacier); a major outlet of the NEGIS.At high elevation (>900 m asl) autochthonous blockfield, a lack of glacially moulded bedrock and pre LGM exposure ages point to a complex exposure/burial history extending back over half a million years. However, post Marine Isotope Stage 12, enhanced glacial erosion led to fjord incision and plateaux abandonment. Between 900 and 600 m asl the terrain is largely unmodified by glacial scour but post LGM erratics indicate the advection of cold-based ice through the fjord. In contrast, below ∼600 m asl Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden exhibits a geomorphological signal indicative of a warm-based ice stream operating during the last glacial cycle. Dated ice marginal landforms and terrain along the fjord walls show initial thinning rates were slow between ∼23 and 10 ka, but post-10 ka it is evident that Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden deglaciated extremely quickly with complete fjord deglaciation below ∼500 m asl between 10.0 and 8.5 ka.Both increasing air and ocean temperatures were pivotal in driving surface lowering and submarine melt during deglaciation, but the final withdrawal of ice through Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden was facilitated by the action of marine ice sheet instability. Our estimates show that thinning and retreat rates reached a maximum of 5.29 ma−1 and 613 ma−1, respectively, as the ice margin withdrew westwards. This would place the Early Holocene disintegration of this outlet of the NEGIS at the upper bounds of contemporary thinning and retreat rates seen both in Greenland and Antarctica. Combined with recent evidence of ice stream shutdown during the Holocene, as well as predictions of changing ice flow dynamics within downstream sections of the NEGIS catchment, this suggests that significant re-organisation of the terminal zone of the ice stream is imminent over the next century

The evolution of the Patagonian Ice Sheet from 35 ka to the present day (PATICE)

We present PATICE, a GIS database of Patagonian glacial geomorphology and recalibrated chronological data. PATICE includes 58,823 landforms and 1,669 geochronological ages, and extends from 38°S to 55°S in southern South America. We use these data to generate new empirical reconstructions of the Patagonian Ice Sheet (PIS) and subsequent ice masses and ice-dammed palaeolakes at 35 ka, 30 ka, 25 ka, 20 ka, 15 ka, 13 ka (synchronous with the Antarctic Cold Reversal), 10 ka, 5 ka, 0.2 ka and 2011 AD. At 35 ka, the PIS covered of 492.6 x103 km2, had a sea level equivalent of ~1,496 mm, was 350 km wide and 2090 km long, and was grounded on the Pacific continental shelf edge. Outlet glacier lobes remained topographically confined and the largest generated the suites of subglacial streamlined bedforms characteristic of ice streams. The PIS reached its maximum extent by 33 – 28 ka from 38°S to 48°S, and earlier, around 47 ka from 48°S southwards. Net retreat from maximum positions began by 25 ka, with ice-marginal stabilisation then at 21 – 18 ka, which was then followed by rapid irreversible deglaciation. By 15 ka, the PIS had separated into disparate ice masses, draining into large ice-dammed lakes along the eastern margin, which strongly influenced rates of recession. Glacial readvances or stabilisations occurred at least at 14 – 13 ka, 11 ka, 6 – 5 ka, 2 – 1 ka, and 0.5 – 0.2 ka. We suggest that 20th century glacial recession (% a-1) is occurring faster than at any time documented during the Holocene

Data for: The evolution of the Patagonian Ice Sheet from 35 ka to the Present Day (PATICE)

Supplementary Data. Includes Excel data tables for ages and shapefiles for ages, geomorphology and ice-sheet reconstruction