Constraining the amplitude of Antarctic Ice Sheet change during warm intervals of the Pliocene

Despite a major effort to constrain peak sea level during the mid-Pliocene warm period, uncertainties remain large. This interval is of interest because of the analogous CO2 concentration to present day and because of the potential retreat of a large portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The usefulness of this period to constrain ice sheet model physics is limited by these large uncertainties on peak sea level. Here we discuss efforts to produce a new record of the amplitude of sea level change from interglacial to glacial periods during the early and mid-Pliocene, which have lower uncertainties than peak sea level. We combine this effort with new climate and ice sheet model simulations of the glacial to interglacial cycle for ice sheets in both hemispheres. We discuss how this work will constrain the magnitude of Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat during warm intervals of the mid-Pliocene and how we use these constraints to discriminate between different ice sheet model physics.