Collaborative Research: Investigating Southern Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures and Freshening during the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene along the Antarctic Margin

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Non-technical: As Antarctica’s ice sheets melt, freshwater enters the ocean, which can increase sea ice cover adjacent to the ice sheet. Sea ice formation changes the density of sea water thus regulating the circulation of water throughout the global ocean. Sea ice expansion may also slow down the processes driving ice sheet melt. This research will examine the relationship between surface ocean cooling and ocean freshening from geological records recovered adjacent, as well as farther seaward from the ice margin. These records will provide key information regarding the role in sea ice expansion during the process of deglaciation. The geological records span time intervals when climate conditions were similar to predicted future warming scenarios. Therefore, these new records will provide perspective on what the consequences of an ice sheet melting and surface ocean freshening might be in the near-term (100 years) and long-term (100-years) future. Broader impacts will include training for undergraduate researchers, dissemination of research findings through the Time Scavengers website and hands-on community science events, and engagement with school teachers and students. Technical Description: Ocean warming and Antarctic ice mass loss over the last few decades has resulted in surface freshening in the Ross Sea sector of the Southern Ocean. Surface ocean freshening is linked to sea ice expansion, which has an important role in regulating global ocean circulation and is hypothesized to be a negative climate feedback slowing ice retreat. The forcings and feedbacks involved in Southern Ocean warming, ice shelf melt, surface ocean freshening, sea ice growth, and deep water formation remain poorly understood due to the short-term nature of instrumental records. The objective of this research program is to: (1) generate multi-proxy Plio-Pleistocene sea surface temperature and meltwater records in ice-proximal and ice-marginal settings during deglacial and interglacial intervals from archived sediment cores of ANDRILL AND-1B as well as International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) U1524, and (2) examine the external forcing mechanisms and orbital pacing of sea surface temperature and meltwater variability during the Plio-Pleistocene. Results from this project aim to better understand ocean-ice sheet driven dynamics under varying climate scenarios of the most recent geological past.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.