ABSTRACT
Evidence is presented from both Antarctica and Australasia to show that the West Antarctic ice sheet has surged several times in the last 6 000 years. During these surges perhaps up to 3 × 105 km3 of ice in the form of icebergs are delivered to the Southern Ocean in a period of a few hundred years. The dates of these surges correspond to the post-glacial cold periods and it is suggested that this may be the mechanism for at least some of the post-glacial climate fluctuations.
