Emma-Louise Cooper , Mark I. Stevens , Richard S. Jones , Andrew N. Mackintosh
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
The presence of unique biological archives (e.g., springtails, Arthropoda: Collembola) in Antarctic ice-free regions provides powerful evidence for testing assumptions about when and how the current ice sheet reached its present-day configuration. Springtails, where present, may suggest long-term (thousands to millions of years) ice-free conditions. Springtails might also provide crucial evidence of ice-free conditions in locations (often inland) where cosmogenic nuclide data are complicated by the influence of cold-based ice. We use published geological dating evidence from Dronning Maud Land (DML), East Antarctica, a region where numerous ice-free mountains (nunataks) currently protrude through the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, to test the utility of Antarctic springtails for understanding the evolution of ice-free terrain. We first categorise and plot all published cosmogenic nuclide data (ages, isotope concentrations) across DML using a series of distinct criteria to determine if they show 1) strong evidence for long-lived ice-free terrain, 2) moderate evidence for long-lived ice-free terrain, or 3) a complex burial-exposure history. Second, we compare the distribution of Antarctic springtails (requiring ice-free habitat to survive in situ) against this geological evidence, guided by their molecular data, where available. Our results imply that springtail populations coincide with areas adjacent to high (+2000 m a.s.l.) nunataks that have remained ice-free over timescales of thousands and in some cases millions of years, a finding that is supported by molecular information in the Sør Rondane Mountains, DML. Given the heterogeneous (and short-range endemic) presence of many springtails, they offer scope to improve knowledge of ice sheet changes more widely in Antarctica.
期刊介绍:
Quaternary Science Reviews caters for all aspects of Quaternary science, and includes, for example, geology, geomorphology, geography, archaeology, soil science, palaeobotany, palaeontology, palaeoclimatology and the full range of applicable dating methods. The dividing line between what constitutes the review paper and one which contains new original data is not easy to establish, so QSR also publishes papers with new data especially if these perform a review function. All the Quaternary sciences are changing rapidly and subject to re-evaluation as the pace of discovery quickens; thus the diverse but comprehensive role of Quaternary Science Reviews keeps readers abreast of the wider issues relating to new developments in the field.