Context from marine geological records for present West Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics and implications for future change

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• Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, British Antarctic Survey
• Monday 03 March 2025, 18:00-19:00
• Harker 1 lecture room, Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Site.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact ss2849.

Satellite and field observations show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is currently undergoing rapid ice loss, thereby increasingly contributing to global sea-level rise. The direct observational record, however, spans just a few decades, raising the question whether this “snapshot” of ice-sheet changes is representative or exceptional in a longer-term context. The only reliable method to establish the long-term framework of WAIS variability and, thus, to evaluate, if present ice loss is related to human-induced global warming, is the reconstruction of past ice-sheet configurations from the geological record. Here I will demonstrate how research on the marine geological imprint left by the ice sheet on the West Antarctic continental margin has improved our understanding of past and present WAIS dynamics. This newly acquired knowledge will help to evaluate the reliability of numerical models in simulating WAIS dynamics and, thus, improve model-based predictions of future ice loss and associated global sea-level rise.

This talk is part of the Sedgwick Club talks series.

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• Department of Earth Sciences seminars
• Harker 1 lecture room, Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Site
• Sedgwick Club talks

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