Fig. 1: Location and climate evolution.
From: An ancient river landscape preserved beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
a Surface elevation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica68. The black line marks the present-day grounding line74; pale areas are floating ice shelves. b Bed elevation of Antarctica beneath the grounded ice sheet from BedMachine v.364. Surface and bed elevations are relative to the global mean sea level (the EIGEN-6C4 geoid). The black dashed box shows the extent of the maps in Figs. 2 and 5, and lines of latitude are separated by 5°. ASB Aurora Subglacial Basin, DML Dronning Maud Land, GSM Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, TAM Transantarctic Mountains, WSB Wilkes Subglacial Basin. c Composite global oxygen isotope record from benthic foraminifera75. Lower (more negative) δ18O values indicate lower ice volume and/or warmer ocean temperatures; higher (more positive) δ18O values indicate greater ice volume and/or cooler ocean temperatures. Labels show the timings of major climate intervals or transitions (red), glacial expansions (black), and prevailing glacial conditions (blue). Plio. = Pliocene; Plt. = Pleistocene; note that the Holocene epoch (0.012–0 Ma) is not shown on the timescale.
