West Antarctica Ice Sheet Existed 20 Million Years Earlier Than Believed
Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - 14:40
in Earth & Climate
The ice sheet on West Antarctica just got a little older - 20 million years or so. The findings indicate that ice sheets first grew on the West Antarctic subcontinent at the start of a global transition from warm greenhouse conditions to a cool icehouse climate 34 million years ago. Previous computer simulations were unable to produce the amount of ice that geological records suggest existed at that time because neighboring East Antarctica alone could not support it. read more