Figure F2. Simulated initiation of East Antarctic glaciation in the earliest Oligocene, using a coupled GCM-ice sheet model (from DeConto and Pollard, 2003a). This model shows the main triggering mechanism for initial inception and development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet were the decreasing levels of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Note these models show the initiation of glaciation to take place in a "two-step" cooling trend. The first step resulting in glaciation in the Antarctic continental interior, discharging mainly through the Lambert Graben to Prydz Bay, and the second step resulting in the connection an expansion of the ice sheet, reaching sea level in the Wilkes Land at a later stage.
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