A major new review of the last glaciation of the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet has just been published by Quaternary Science Reviews. The special issue of the journal includes a suite of review papers involving an international team of experts regarding the last glaciation of the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet. This review, which comprises six review papers and an overview paper in a special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews, is now complete and all papers have been accepted for publication. As this is the most important, up to date and inclusive review ever to be attempted for the glaciation and recession of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, it represents a major step forward in our understanding of palaeo ice-sheet dynamics, provides a benchmark against which future research needs can be identified and highlighted, and provides a compilation of data unlike anything seen before, which can be used to test and calibrate numerical ice-sheet models.
The RAISED Consortium
The RAISED consortium, led by Prof. Mike Bentley form Durham University, comprises 78 authors from 14 countries, and includes all available data held by experts in each of the six sectors of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Consistent use of age calibration techniques ensures that ages are comparable between and within all sectors, and all ages are available for download and examination to further future research. Each sector then interpolates ice-sheet thickness and extent at consistent intervals: 25 kyr, 20 kyr, 15 kyr, 10 kyr, 5 kyr and 0 kyr, examining ice-sheet and ice-shelf change from the LGM through to the present day.
Edit (05/09/2014): The final volume is now online: Quaternary Science Reviews, volume 100.
Just revised the Antarctic Peninsula paper in my Bachelor module “Geomorphology – Glacial history” at University of Koblenz-Landau.
Thanks for putting it online for free.
Rainer Winters
Student of Environmental Sciences and Political Sciences