Reduced magnitude of Early Pleistocene intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation

Abstract

Increased magnitude and expanding geographic distribution of ice-berg rafted debris in deep ocean sediment cores and increasing amplitude of variability in the benthic oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) proxy-global ice volume from ∼2.7 Ma marks the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation (iNHG). However, the location, extent and volume of Northern Hemisphere Ice Sheets (NHISs) is poorly constrained by proximal geologic evidence, and global sea-level records cannot determine individual polar ice sheet contributions alone.

Quantitative relationships between sediment transport, water depth and grain size on a wave-graded continental shelf were previously applied to Pliocene shallow-marine sedimentary deposits in Whanganui Basin, New Zealand to provide an independent relative sea level record (PlioSeaNZ; 3.3–2.5 Ma). Here, we extend the duration of the sea-level record from 3.3 to 1.7 Ma (X-PlioSeaNZ) using a well-documented, shallow-marine sedimentary succession, that outcrops in the Rangitikei River Valley of the Whanganui Basin.

The resulting glacial-interglacial, relative sea-level fluctuations are up to 45 ± 12.5 m paced by 41 kyr-obliquity frequency during the Early Pleistocene, but also contain modulation of 100 kyr-eccentricity cycle. These maximum sea-level amplitudes are more comparable to the mean of those previously reconstructed from calibrated benthic δ¹⁸O (e.g. Miller et al., 2020), and are significantly lower than estimates provided by albeit limited geological evidence proximal to the NHIS (Batchelor et al., 2019). Here we suggest that while NHISs acquired continental extent by 2.6 Ma, their collective volume may be overestimated in benthic δ¹⁸O calibrations and area-volume reconstructions, by as much as 50%.

We propose that a reduced aspect ratio of ice sheets during iNHG was driven by 41-kyr changes in integrated summer insolation and enhanced by a subglacial regolith feedback reducing resistance to basal sliding. Regardless, the lower ice volume through the iNHG implies a lower ice sheet sensitivity (ice equivalent sea-level per degree Celsius change in temperature) under higher atmospheric CO₂ of 4–6 m/°C compared to ∼20 m/°C for the period since the Last Glacial Maximum. This ice sheet sensitivity still has significant implications for society and sea-level will continue to rise under current emissions.