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Validating contrasting climate recordsA divergence in interpretation of paleoclimate reconstructions occurs in one of the most thoroughly studied sectors of Antarctica: the McMurdo Sound region of southern Victoria Land. Exceptionally high-quality Neogene sediment records recently recovered by ANDRILL (ANtarctic DRILLing) suggests multiple events of open-water conditions and elevated sea-surface temperatures at times when terrestrial data, through linking landforms with climate, from the McMurdo Dry Valleys (~100 km distant) call for enduring hyper-arid cold desert conditions These two records have resulted in vastly differing interpretations concerning regional Pliocene climate and the associated stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheets. I have collected meteorological data mapping micro-climatic zones in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and am determining conditions required to destabilize landforms including working with colleagues on understanding triggers for alluvial fan activation.
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