Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2465-2025
© Author(s) 2025. 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-21-2465-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Nov 2025
Research article |
| 26 Nov 2025
| 26 Nov 2025
Mid-Holocene sea-ice dynamics and climate in the northeastern Weddell Sea inferred from an Antarctic snow petrel stomach oil deposit
Mark A. Stevenson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
present address: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU), School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, 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
Michael J. Bentley
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Darren R. Gröcke
Department of Earth Science, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Neil Tunstall
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Chris Longley
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Alice Graham
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Erin L. McClymont
Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
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Mark A. Stevenson, Suzanne McGowan, Emma J. Pearson, George E. A. Swann, Melanie J. Leng, Vivienne J. Jones, Joseph J. Bailey, Xianyu Huang, and Erika Whiteford
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Short summary
We present a record of sea ice and climate inferred from novel snow petrel stomach oil deposits from East Antarctica. Snow petrels feed in the sea ice on a mixture of marine organisms and regurgitate these oils close to their nesting sites in nunatak mountains. We use makers of past diet and productivity from within a deposit to show how sea ice and climate has varied over part of the Holocene. Three periods are identified ranging from low to intermediate and increased sea ice cover.
We present a record of sea ice and climate inferred from novel snow petrel stomach oil deposits...
