Articles | Volume 18, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-381-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Mar 2022
Research article |
| 02 Mar 2022
| 02 Mar 2022
Summer sea-ice variability on the Antarctic margin during the last glacial period reconstructed from snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) stomach-oil deposits
Erin L. McClymont
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Michael J. Bentley
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Dominic A. Hodgson
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council,
Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Thomas Wardley
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Martin D. West
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Ian W. Croudace
Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National
Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
Sonja Berg
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
Darren R. Gröcke
Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE,
United Kingdom
Gerhard Kuhn
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und
Meeresforschung, 27568 Bremerhaven, Germany
Stewart S. R. Jamieson
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United
Kingdom
Louise Sime
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council,
Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
Richard A. Phillips
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council,
Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
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Cited
12 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Antarctic sea ice over the past 130 000 years – Part 1: a review of what proxy records tell us X. Crosta et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1729-2022
- Deglacial and Holocene sea-ice and climate dynamics in the Bransfield Strait, northern Antarctic Peninsula M. Vorrath et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1061-2023
- Understanding the effects of climate change on Southern Ocean ecosystems C. McQuaid https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2023.2239871
- A circumpolar review of the breeding distribution and habitat use of the snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea), the world’s most southerly breeding vertebrate J. Francis et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-024-03336-8
- Novel rock luminescence dating of snow petrel stomach-oil deposits from East Antarctica R. Smedley et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2026.101746
- Reconstructing the Paleo‐Ecological Diet of Snow Petrels (Pagodroma nivea) From Modern Samples and Fossil Deposits: Implications for Southern Ocean Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions S. Berg et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007454
- Environmental Features Associated With At‐Sea Sightings of Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea in East Antarctica B. Viola et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71871
- Mid-Holocene sea-ice dynamics and climate in the northeastern Weddell Sea inferred from an Antarctic snow petrel stomach oil deposit M. Stevenson et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2465-2025
- Can we use springtails to improve our understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet history? — A case study from Dronning Maud Land E. Cooper et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109297
- MARINE RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION IN POLAR REGIONS: A SIMPLE APPROXIMATE APPROACH USING MARINE20 T. Heaton et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2023.42
- Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change E. McClymont et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3559
- Reconstructing late Holocene summer sea-ice variability in the eastern Weddell Sea C. Penny et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102026100662
12 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Antarctic sea ice over the past 130 000 years – Part 1: a review of what proxy records tell us X. Crosta et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1729-2022
- Deglacial and Holocene sea-ice and climate dynamics in the Bransfield Strait, northern Antarctic Peninsula M. Vorrath et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1061-2023
- Understanding the effects of climate change on Southern Ocean ecosystems C. McQuaid https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2023.2239871
- A circumpolar review of the breeding distribution and habitat use of the snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea), the world’s most southerly breeding vertebrate J. Francis et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-024-03336-8
- Novel rock luminescence dating of snow petrel stomach-oil deposits from East Antarctica R. Smedley et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2026.101746
- Reconstructing the Paleo‐Ecological Diet of Snow Petrels (Pagodroma nivea) From Modern Samples and Fossil Deposits: Implications for Southern Ocean Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions S. Berg et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007454
- Environmental Features Associated With At‐Sea Sightings of Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea in East Antarctica B. Viola et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71871
- Mid-Holocene sea-ice dynamics and climate in the northeastern Weddell Sea inferred from an Antarctic snow petrel stomach oil deposit M. Stevenson et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2465-2025
- Can we use springtails to improve our understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet history? — A case study from Dronning Maud Land E. Cooper et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109297
- MARINE RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION IN POLAR REGIONS: A SIMPLE APPROXIMATE APPROACH USING MARINE20 T. Heaton et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2023.42
- Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change E. McClymont et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3559
- Reconstructing late Holocene summer sea-ice variability in the eastern Weddell Sea C. Penny et al. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102026100662
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 21 Jun 2026
Short summary
Sea ice is important for our climate system and for the unique ecosystems it supports. We present a novel way to understand past Antarctic sea-ice ecosystems: using the regurgitated stomach contents of snow petrels, which nest above the ice sheet but feed in the sea ice. During a time when sea ice was more extensive than today (24 000–30 000 years ago), we show that snow petrel diet had varying contributions of fish and krill, which we interpret to show changing sea-ice distribution.
Sea ice is important for our climate system and for the unique ecosystems it supports. We...
