PAST EAST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET AND GLOBAL SEA-LEVEL VARIATIONS

独特的化石承载，开放的海洋沉积物发生在现代南极海岸线的内陆。 这些沉积物是在过去冰盖体积显著减少和全球海平面升高的时期，现在冰川化的南极盆地变成海洋海湾时沉积的。 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至关重要，可以提供：过去大冰盖退缩和全球海平面上升的直接可定年的现场证据;以及关于这类事件期间环境的可量化数据;一个改进对南极洲对全球变暖的反应的预测的创新机会，并回答关于过去南极冰盖稳定性的国际辩论。

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.