Catastrophic ice shelf breakup as the source of Heinrich event icebergs
| Type | Article | ||||||||
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| Date | 2004-01 | ||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||
| Author(s) | Hulbe Cl1, Macayeal Dr2, Denton Gh3, 4, Kleman J5, Lowell Tv6 | ||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Portland State Univ, Dept Geol, Portland, OR 97207 USA. 2 : Univ Chicago, Dept Geophys Sci, Chicago, IL 60637 USA. 3 : Univ Maine, Inst Quaternary & Climate Studies, Orono, ME 04469 USA. 4 : Univ Maine, Dept Geol Sci, Orono, ME 04469 USA. 5 : Stockholm Univ, Dept Phys Geog & Quaternary Geol, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden. 6 : Univ Cincinnati, Dept Geol, Cincinnati, OH 45221 USA. |
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| Source | Paleoceanography (0883-8305) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2004-01 , Vol. 19 , N. PA1004 , P. 1-15 | ||||||||
| DOI | 10.1029/2003PA000890 | ||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 128 | ||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Heinrich events, ice shelf disintegration | ||||||||
| Abstract | Heinrich layers of the glacial North Atlantic record abrupt widespread iceberg rafting of detrital carbonate and other lithic material at the extreme-cold culminations of Bond climate cycles. Both internal (glaciologic) and external ( climate) forcings have been proposed. Here we suggest an explanation for the iceberg release that encompasses external climate forcing on the basis of a new glaciological process recently witnessed along the Antarctic Peninsula: rapid disintegrations of fringing ice shelves induced by climate-controlled meltwater infilling of surface crevasses. We postulate that peripheral ice shelves, formed along the eastern Canadian seaboard during extreme cold conditions, would be vulnerable to sudden climate-driven disintegration during any climate amelioration. Ice shelf disintegration then would be the source of Heinrich event icebergs. | ||||||||
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