‘More dynamic … history than previously recognized’

Novel findings from ​​University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, geologist Timothy Paulsen and University of Colorado, Boulder, thermochronologist Jeff Benowitz have shed light on the complex and enigmatic history of Antarctica’s ice sheets, The Debrief reported.

Paulsen and Benowitz’s research will appear in the August edition of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The study builds on a broader understanding of Antarctica’s bedrock geology and introduces new insights.

The Antarctic ice sheets “today blanket and mask the bedrock geology of Antarctica,” the study’s authors began. “However, when this bedrock landscape formed over many regions of Antarctica and how it has influenced ice sheet evolution remain as unresolved problems.”

Paulsen, Benowitz, and their research team set out to glean insights from a mysterious, “hidden” mountain range in Antarctica. Those massive mountains were first discovered during the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904.

“Early exploration of the Antarctic continent revealed a surprising result, a 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) long mountain range with peaks over 4,500 meters (2.8 miles) crossing the Antarctic continental interior. This range was known as the ‘great Antarctic horst’ and is recognized today as the Transantarctic Mountains,” Paulsen explained.

Research examined periods of “exhumation” — a term in geology for periods when objects beneath or near the Earth’s crust have moved closer to the surface — and their “potential influence on Paleozoic and Cenozoic glacial cycles” on the continent.

The team analyzed an “exceptionally large data set from igneous rocks recovered from the Transantarctic Mountains,” uncovering new evidence with respect to glacial cycles.

Their findings hinted at a “much more dynamic Antarctic landscape history than previously recognized,” which Paulsen expounded on.

“Our new results suggest Transantarctic Mountain basement rocks experienced several punctuated mountain-building and erosion events, creating surfaces along which ancient rocks are missing. These events are curiously associated with major plate tectonic changes along the margins of Antarctica,” he said.

As is often the case, the team indicated that further research could reveal more about the continent’s glacial cycles — which in turn can inform our broader knowledge of climate.

An “older geologic history of the continent may have profoundly shaped the patterns of the modern landscape, which likely influenced cycles of glacial advance and retreat, and perhaps evolutionary steps in Earth’s global ocean-atmosphere system,” Paulsen stated.

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