Figure 2: Sirius Group outcrops and Antarctic Ice Sheet configuration during warm Pliocene.
From: Windblown Pliocene diatoms and East Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat
Warm Pliocene Antarctic ice-sheet configuration from the simulation in Pollard et al.7, representing intervals of maximum retreat during warm austral summer orbits. Note the ice-sheet retreat across the Wilkes Basin (WB), Aurora Basin (AB) and the Recovery Ice Stream, adjacent to the Shackleton Range (SR). This model result illustrates an intermediate ice-sheet geometry, between the end-member configurations suggested in key papers in the ‘stabilist/dynamicist’ debate. Coastal exposures of previously submarine deposits, following isostatic rebound (Fig. 5), are shown in brown. Diatom-bearing Sirius Group outcrops along the Transantarctic Mountains in the Wisconsin Range (WR), Queen Maud Mountains (QMM), and South Victoria Land (SVL) are indicated in red (following ref. 5). Location of the Eltanin Meteorite impact site48 in the Southern Ocean is indicated.
