LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE ANTARCTIC AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH GLOBAL CHANGE

TheAnturCticisoneofthemostimpohantcoldsourcesonEarth,asabout24.5xlo'km'oficewhichtakes9opeamtoftotalicevolumeontheglobecoveronit.RotreaoradvanceOftheAntarcticIceSheetwillaffatfluCtuationofsealevel.ItiscalculatalthatiftheAntercticIceSheetlscomplotelymeltaw…

LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE ANTARCTIC AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH GLOBAL CHANGE

Two ingressions occurred in the last glacial interstadial (50,00-25,000 a BP) and Holocene optimum (7,500-5,000 a BP) periods in Antercticregion. The grea expansion of Antarcic Ice Sheet appeared at last glacialmaximum (18,000 a BP) when Antarctic sea level was 100- 150 m lower thanthat at presat. Three times of glacial advances and rotreas occurred on thefront of Antarctic Ice Shed since 3,000 a BP. All these phenomena werecoordinated with global changes. In the past decades, records from Antercticice-free areas and ice cores testified that mvironmedl and climatic changesin Antarctic region have been coordinated with global changes since latePlelstocene. In the past decades, Antarctic inland was a little warming up andthe fron of the ice shed was slowly melting and ratreating due to the increaseof CO2 content in the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect will cause AntercticIce Sheet (especially on the ice shelves) to be partly melting away, but can notdestroy it. In this case the amplitude of sea level rise caused by the melting ofAntarctic ice will be less than 0.2 m within the coming five decades.