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Sedimentary records can illuminate relationships between the climate, topography, and glaciation of West Antarctica by revealing its Cenozoic topographic and paleoenvironmental history. Eocene fluvial drainage patterns have previously been inferred using geochemical provenance data from an ~44– to 34–million year deltaic sandstone recovered from the Amundsen Sea Embayment. One interpretation holds that a low-relief, low-lying West Antarctic landscape supported a >1500-kilometer transcontinental river system. Alternatively, higher-relief topography in central West Antarctica formed a drainage divide between the Ross and Amundsen seas. Here, zircon U-Pb data from Amundsen Sea Embayment sediments are examined alongside known regional bedrock provenance signatures. These analyses suggest that all observed provenance indicators in the Eocene sandstone derive from West Antarctic rocks. This implies that a local river system flowed off a West Antarctic drainage divide, helping constrain the mid-Late Eocene evolution of West Antarctic topography with implications for the history of rifting and the characteristics of sediments infilling interior basins. 

Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) components for orthopedic implants have historically been integrated into metal backings by direct-compression molding (DCM). However, metal backings are costly, stiffer than cortical bone, and may be associated with medical imaging distortion and metal release. Hybrid-manufactured DCM UHMWPE overmolded additively manufactured polyetheretherketone (PEEK) structural components could offer an alternative solution, but are yet to be explored. In this study, five different porous topologies (grid, triangular, honeycomb, octahedral, and gyroid) and three surface feature sizes (low, medium, and high) were implemented into the top surface of digital cylindrical specimens prior to being 3D printed in PEEK and then overmolded with UHMWPE. Separation forces were recorded as 1.97–3.86 kN, therefore matching and bettering the historical industry values (2–3 kN) recorded for DCM UHMWPE metal components. Infill topology affected failure mechanism (Type 1 or 2) and obtained separation forces, with shapes having greater sidewall numbers (honeycomb-60%) and interconnectivity (gyroid-30%) through their builds, tolerating higher transmitted forces. Surface feature size also had an impact on applied load, whereby those with low infill-%s generally recorded lower levels of performance vs. medium and high infill strategies. These preliminary findings suggest that hybrid-manufactured structural composites could replace metal backings and produce orthopedic implants with high-performing polymer–polymer interfaces. 

Abstract. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are useful tools for paleoenvironmental studies but rely on the calibration of live populations to modern environmental conditions to allow interpretation of this proxy downcore. In regions such as the region offshore of Thwaites Glacier, where relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water is driving melt at the glacier margin, it is especially important to have calibrated tracers of different environmental settings. However, Thwaites Glacier is difficult to access, and therefore there is a paucity of data on foraminiferal populations. In sediment samples with in situ bottom-water data collected during the austral summer of 2019, we find two live foraminiferal populations, which we refer to as the Epistominella cf. exigua population and the Miliammina arenacea population, which appear to be controlled by oceanographic and sea ice conditions. Furthermore, we examined the total foraminiferal assemblage (i.e., living plus dead) and found that the presence of Circumpolar Deep Water apparently influences the calcite compensation depth. We also find signals of retreat of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue from the low proportion of live foraminifera in the total assemblages closest to the ice margin. The combined live and dead foraminiferal assemblages, along with their environmental conditions and calcite preservation potential, provide a critical tool for reconstructing paleoenvironmental changes in ice-proximal settings. 

Abstract. Silt-rich meltwater plume deposits (MPDs) analyzed from marine sediment cores have elucidated relationships that are clearly connected, yet difficult to constrain, between subglacial hydrology, ice-marginal landforms, and grounding-zone retreat patterns for several glacial catchments. Few attempts have been made to infer details of subglacial hydrology, such as flow regime, geometry of drainage pathways, and mode(s) of sediment transport through time, from grain-scale characteristics of MPDs. Using sediment samples from MPD, till, and grounding-zone proximal diamicton collected offshore of six modern and relict glacial catchments in both hemispheres, we examine grain shape distributions and microtextures (collectively, grain micromorphology) of the silt fraction to explore whether grains are measurably altered from their subglacial sources via meltwater action. We find that 75 % of all imaged grains (n = 9400) can be described by 25 % of the full range of measured shape morphometrics, indicating grain shape homogenization through widespread and efficient abrasive processes in subglacial environments. Although silt grains from MPDs exhibit edge rounding more often than silt grains from tills, grain surface textures indicative of fluvial transport (e.g., v-shaped percussions) occur in only a modest number of grains. Furthermore, MPD grain surfaces retain several textures consistent with transport beneath glacial ice (e.g., straight or arcuate steps, (sub)linear fractures) in comparable abundances to till grains. Significant grain shape alteration in MPDs compared to their till sources is observed in sediments from glacial regions where (1) high-magnitude, potentially catastrophic meltwater drainage events are inferred from marine sediment records and (2) submarine landforms suggest supraglacial melt contributed to the subglacial hydrological budget. This implies that quantifiable grain shape alteration in MPDs could reflect a combination of high-energy flow of subglacial meltwater, persistent sediment entrainment, and/or long sediment transport distances through subglacial drainage pathways. Integrating grain micromorphology into analysis of MPDs in site-specific studies could therefore aid in distinguishing periods of persistent, well-connected subglacial discharge from periods of sluggish or disorganized drainage. In the wider context of deglacial marine sedimentary and bathymetric records, a grain micromorphological approach may bolster our ability to characterize ice response to subglacial meltwater transmission through time. This work additionally demonstrates that glacial and fluvial surface textures are retained on silt-sized quartz grains in adequate amounts for microtexture analysis, which has heretofore been conducted exclusively on the sand fraction. Therefore, grain microtextures can be examined on silt-rich glaciogenic deposits that contain little to no sand as a means to evaluate sediment transport processes. 

All known life is homochiral. DNA and RNA are made from “righthanded” nucleotides, and proteins are made from “left-handed” amino acids. Driven by curiosity and plausible applications, some researchers had begun work toward creating lifeforms composed entirely of mirror-image biological molecules. Such mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration. The capability to create mirror life is likely at least a decade away and would require large investments and major technical advances; we thus have an opportunity to consider and preempt risks before they are realized. Here, we draw on an indepth analysis of current technical barriers, how they might be eroded by technological progress, and what we deem to be unprecedented and largely overlooked risks. We call for broader discussion among the global research community, policy-makers, research funders, industry, civil society, and the public to chart an appropriate path forward. 

Today, relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water is melting Thwaites Glacier at the base of its ice shelf and at the grounding zone, contributing to significant ice retreat. Accelerating ice loss has been observed since the 1970s; however, it is unclear when this phase of significant melting initiated. We analyzed the marine sedimentary record to reconstruct Thwaites Glacier’s history from the early Holocene to present. Marine geophysical surveys were carried out along the floating ice-shelf margin to identify core locations from various geomorphic settings. We use sedimentological data and physical properties to define sedimentary facies at seven core sites. Glaciomarine sediment deposits reveal that the grounded ice in the Amundsen Sea Embayment had already retreated to within ~45 km of the modern grounding zone prior to ca. 9,400 y ago. Sediments deposited within the past 100+ y record abrupt changes in environmental conditions. On seafloor highs, these shifts document ice-shelf thinning initiating at least as early as the 1940s. Sediments recovered from deep basins reflect a transition from ice proximal to slightly more distal conditions, suggesting ongoing grounding-zone retreat since the 1950s. The timing of ice-shelf unpinning from the seafloor for Thwaites Glacier coincides with similar records from neighboring Pine Island Glacier. Our work provides robust new evidence that glacier retreat in the Amundsen Sea was initiated in the mid-twentieth century, likely associated with climate variability. 

Abstract. Ocean-driven ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is asignificant contributor to sea-level rise. Recent ocean variability in theAmundsen Sea is controlled by near-surface winds. We combine palaeoclimatereconstructions and climate model simulations to understand past and futureinfluences on Amundsen Sea winds from anthropogenic forcing and internalclimate variability. The reconstructions show strong historical wind trends.External forcing from greenhouse gases and stratospheric ozone depletiondrove zonally uniform westerly wind trends centred over the deep SouthernOcean. Internally generated trends resemble a South Pacific Rossby wavetrain and were highly influential over the Amundsen Sea continental shelf.There was strong interannual and interdecadal variability over the AmundsenSea, with periods of anticyclonic wind anomalies in the 1940s and 1990s,when rapid ice-sheet loss was initiated. Similar anticyclonic anomaliesprobably occurred prior to the 20th century but without causing the presentice loss. This suggests that ice loss may have been triggered naturally inthe 1940s but failed to recover subsequently due to the increasingimportance of anthropogenic forcing from greenhouse gases (since the 1960s)and ozone depletion (since the 1980s). Future projections also featurestrong wind trends. Emissions mitigation influences wind trends over thedeep Southern Ocean but has less influence on winds over the Amundsen Seashelf, where internal variability creates a large and irreducibleuncertainty. This suggests that strong emissions mitigation is needed tominimise ice loss this century but that the uncontrollable future influenceof internal climate variability could be equally important.