PAST EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET AND GLOBAL SEA-LEVEL VARIATIONS

独特的含有化石的开阔海洋沉积物出现在现代南极海岸线的内陆。它们是在现在冰川融化的南极盆地变成海洋海湾时沉积的，在过去冰盖体积显著减少和全球海平面上升的时期。对这些沉积物进行紧急的古生物学、沉积学和地球化学研究，对于以下方面至关重要：提供关于过去重大冰盖退缩和全球海平面上升的直接可用现场证据；以及关于此类事件期间环境的可量化数据；这是改进对南极洲对全球变暖的反应的预测并回答关于过去南极冰盖稳定性的国际辩论的创新机会。

Unique fossil-bearing, open marine sediments occur inland from the modern Antarctic coastline. These were deposited when a now-glaciated Antarctic basin became a marine embayment, during intervals of significantly reduced ice sheet volume and elevated global sea-level in the past. Urgent palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical research on these sediments are vital to provide: directly datable in situ evidence for major ice sheet retreat and global sea-level rise in the past; and quantifiable data concerning the environment during such events; an innovative opportunity to improve predictions of Antarctica's response to global warming and answer international debate about past Antarctic Ice Sheet stability.