Origin of the Middle Pleistocene transition by ice sheet erosion of regolith

The transition in the middle Pleistocene (∼0.9 Ma) seen in δ18O deep-sea-core records from relatively low-amplitude, high-frequency (41 kyr) to high-amplitude, low-frequency (100 kyr) ice volume variations under essentially the same orbital forcing can be attributed to a change from an all soft-bedded to a mixed hard-soft bedded Laurentide ice sheet through glacial erosion of a thick regolith and resulting exposure of unweathered crystalline bedrock. A one-dimensional ice sheet and bedrock model which includes transport of sediment and ice by subglacial sediment deformation demonstrates that a widespread deforming sediment layer maintains thin ice sheets before the transition which respond linearly to the dominant (23 and 41 kyr) orbital forcing. Progressive removal of the sediment layer eventually causes a transition to thicker ice sheets whose dominant timescale of change (100 kyr) reflects nonlinear deglaciation processes. In model simulations over the last 3 Ma initialized with no ice and a uniform 50 m sediment layer the time series of ice volume and extent agree in several important aspects with the observed records.

• Publication year

  1998

• Venue

  Oceanographic Literature Review

• Publication date

  1998-02-01

• Fields of study

  Environmental Science, Geology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1029/97PA02660
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• Simulations from a one-dimensional ice sheet and bedrock model initialized with no ice and a uniform 50 m sediment layer reproduce several key features of the observed ice-volume and ice-extent records over the last 3 Ma.

  Confidence 0.91

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• Progressive removal of the sediment layer leads to thicker ice sheets whose dominant timescale shifts to about 100 kyr and is controlled by nonlinear deglaciation processes.

  Confidence 0.94

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• A widespread deforming sediment layer is sufficient to keep Laurentide ice sheets thin and to make their ice-volume response approximately linear to the dominant 23 kyr and 41 kyr orbital forcing.

  Confidence 0.93

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• Erosion of a thick regolith and the resulting exposure of unweathered crystalline bedrock are attributed as the mechanism behind the middle Pleistocene transition.

  Confidence 0.95

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review

• crystalline bedrock

  geologic material

  Unweathered hard rock exposed after the regolith is removed beneath the ice sheet.

  Aliases: unweathered crystalline bedrock

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• deforming sediment layer

  geologic layer

  A widespread basal sediment layer capable of deforming beneath the ice sheet.

  Aliases: deformable sediment layer

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• laurentide ice sheet

  ice sheet

  The North American ice sheet whose bed conditions are discussed as the source of the modeled glacial behavior.

  Aliases: Laurentide

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• middle pleistocene transition

  geologic event

  The interval around 0.9 million years ago when deep-sea oxygen-isotope records show a shift in glacial variability pattern.

  Aliases: MPT

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• nonlinear deglaciation processes

  process

  Ice-sheet retreat dynamics that produce a long characteristic timescale rather than a linear response.

  Aliases: nonlinear deglaciation

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• one-dimensional ice sheet and bedrock model

  model

  A one-dimensional numerical model coupling ice-sheet evolution, bedrock, and sediment transport.

  Aliases: 1-D ice sheet and bedrock model

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• orbital forcing

  forcing

  The external climatic forcing associated with Earth's orbital cycles that drives the glacial response in the abstract.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• regolith

  geologic material

  The thick weathered sediment layer beneath the ice sheet that can be eroded away by glacial action.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• subglacial sediment deformation

  process

  The deformation and transport of sediment beneath glacier ice that is included in the model physics.

  Aliases: sediment deformation

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review
• δ18o deep-sea-core records

  proxy record, paleoceanographic record

  Marine sediment core records of oxygen-isotope ratios used here as a proxy for past ice volume variability.

  Aliases: oxygen-isotope deep-sea-core records, deep-sea δ18O records

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) review

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