scholarly journals Insolation-driven 100,000-year glacial cycles and hysteresis of ice-sheet volume

Nature ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 500 (7461) ◽  
pp. 190-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayako Abe-Ouchi ◽  
Fuyuki Saito ◽  
Kenji Kawamura ◽  
Maureen E. Raymo ◽  
Jun’ichi Okuno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Cycles

scholarly journals The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Tabone ◽  
Javier Blasco ◽  
Alexander Robinson ◽  
Jorge Alvarez-Solas ◽  
Marisa Montoya
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Primary Driver ◽  
Oceanic Forcing ◽  
Atmospheric Variations

Abstract. Observations suggest that during the last decades the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has experienced a gradually accelerating mass loss, in part due to the observed speed-up of several of Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers. Recent studies directly attribute this to warming North Atlantic temperatures, which have triggered melting of the outlet glaciers of the GrIS, grounding-line retreat and enhanced ice discharge into the ocean, contributing to an acceleration of sea-level rise. Reconstructions suggest that the influence of the ocean has been of primary importance in the past as well. This was the case not only in interglacial periods, when warmer climates led to a rapid retreat of the GrIS to land above sea level, but also in glacial periods, when the GrIS expanded as far as the continental shelf break and was thus more directly exposed to oceanic changes. However, the GrIS response to palaeo-oceanic variations has yet to be investigated in detail from a mechanistic modelling perspective. In this work, the evolution of the GrIS over the past two glacial cycles is studied using a three-dimensional hybrid ice-sheet–shelf model. We assess the effect of the variation of oceanic temperatures on the GrIS evolution on glacial–interglacial timescales through changes in submarine melting. The results show a very high sensitivity of the GrIS to changing oceanic conditions. Oceanic forcing is found to be a primary driver of GrIS expansion in glacial times and of retreat in interglacial periods. If switched off, palaeo-atmospheric variations alone are not able to yield a reliable glacial configuration of the GrIS. This work therefore suggests that considering the ocean as an active forcing should become standard practice in palaeo-ice-sheet modelling.

scholarly journals Basal temperature conditions of the Greenland ice sheet during the glacial cycles

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 226-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Huybrechts
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Temperature Conditions ◽  
Strongly Damped

A high-resolution, three-dimensional thermomechanical ice-sheet model, which includes isostasy, the possibility of ice-sheet expansion on the continental shelf and refined climatic parameterizations, was used to investigate the basal thermal regime of the Greenland ice sheet. The thermodynamic calculations take into account the usual terms of heat flow within the ice, a thermally active bedrock layer and all of the effects associated with changes in ice thickness and flow pattern. Basal temperature conditions are documented with respect to glacial–interracial shifts in climatic boundary conditions, both in steady state as during simulations over the last two glacial cycles using the GRIP δ180 record. It is found that the basal temperature field shows a large sensitivity in steady-state experiments but that, during a glacial cycle, basal temperature variations are strongly damped, in particular in central areas. A comparison has been made with measured data from deep ice cores and the implications are discussed.

PISM paleo simulations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet over the last two glacial cycles

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Albrecht ◽  
Ricarda Winkelmann ◽  
Anders Levermann
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Sea Level ◽  
Glacial Time ◽  
The Antarctic

<p>Simulations of the glacial-interglacial history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet provide insights into dynamic threshold behavior and estimates of the ice sheet's contributions to global sea-level changes, for the past, present and future. However, boundary conditions are weakly constrained, in particular at the interface of the ice-sheet and the bedrock. We use the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) to investigate the dynamic effects of different choices of input data and of various parameterizations on the sea-level relevant ice volume. We evaluate the model's transient sensitivity to corresponding parameter choices and to different boundary conditions over the last two glacial cycles and provide estimates of involved uncertainties. We also present isolated and combined effects of climate and sea-level forcing on glacial time scales. </p>

Late Quaternary Iceberg Rafting along the Antarctic Peninsula Continental Rise and in the Weddell and Scotia Seas

2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colm Ó Cofaigh ◽  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Carol J. Pudsey
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Continental Rise ◽  
The North ◽  
Glacial Periods ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractSediment cores from the continental rise west of the Antarctic Peninsula and the northern Weddell and Scotia Seas were investigated for their ice-rafted debris (IRD) content by lithofacies logging and counting of particles >0.2 cm from core x-radiographs. The objective of the study was to determine if there are iceberg-rafted units similar to the Heinrich layers of the North Atlantic that might record periodic, widespread catastrophic collapse of basins within the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Quaternary. Cores from the Antarctic Peninsula margin contain prominent IRD-rich units, with maximum IRD concentrations in oxygen isotope stages 1, 5, and 7. However, the greater concentration of IRD in interglacial stages is the result of low sedimentation rates and current winnowing, rather than regional-scale episodes of increased iceberg rafting. This is also supported by markedly lower mass accumulation rates (MAR) during interglacial periods versus glacial periods. Furthermore, thinner IRD layers within isotope stages 2–4 and 6 cannot be correlated between individual cores along the margin. This implies that the ice sheet over the Antarctic Peninsula did not undergo widespread catastrophic collapse along its western margin during the late Quaternary (isotope stages 1–7). Sediment cores from the Weddell and Scotia Seas are characterized by low IRD concentrations throughout, and the IRD signal generally appears to be of limited regional significance with few strong peaks that can be correlated between cores. Tentatively, this argues against pervasive, rapid ice-sheet collapse around the Weddell embayment over the last few glacial cycles.

scholarly journals Quantifying the effect of ocean bed properties on ice sheet geometry over 40 000 years with a full-Stokes model

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3917-3934
Author(s):  
Clemens Schannwell ◽  
Reinhard Drews ◽  
Todd A. Ehlers ◽  
Olaf Eisen ◽  
Christoph Mayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Sediment Redistribution ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Abstract. Simulations of ice sheet evolution over glacial cycles require integration of observational constraints using ensemble studies with fast ice sheet models. These include physical parameterisations with uncertainties, for example, relating to grounding-line migration. More complete ice dynamic models are slow and have thus far only be applied for < 1000 years, leaving many model parameters unconstrained. Here we apply a 3D thermomechanically coupled full-Stokes ice sheet model to the Ekström Ice Shelf embayment, East Antarctica, over a full glacial cycle (40 000 years). We test the model response to differing ocean bed properties that provide an envelope of potential ocean substrates seawards of today's grounding line. The end-member scenarios include a hard, high-friction ocean bed and a soft, low-friction ocean bed. We find that predicted ice volumes differ by > 50 % under almost equal forcing. Grounding-line positions differ by up to 49 km, show significant hysteresis, and migrate non-steadily in both scenarios with long quiescent phases disrupted by leaps of rapid migration. The simulations quantify the evolution of two different ice sheet geometries (namely thick and slow vs. thin and fast), triggered by the variable grounding-line migration over the differing ocean beds. Our study extends the timescales of 3D full-Stokes by an order of magnitude compared to previous studies with the help of parallelisation. The extended time frame for full-Stokes models is a first step towards better understanding other processes such as erosion and sediment redistribution in the ice shelf cavity impacting the entire catchment geometry.

scholarly journals A surface energy and mass balance model for simulations over multiple glacial cycles

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Born ◽  
Michael A. Imhof ◽  
Thomas F. Stocker
Keyword(s):  
Surface Energy ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Mass Balance Model ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Current Configuration ◽  
Large Ensembles ◽  
Continental Ice Sheets

Abstract. A comprehensive understanding of the state and dynamics of the land cryosphere and associated sea level rise is not possible without taking into consideration the intrinsic time scales of the continental ice sheets. At the same time, the ice sheet mass balance is the result of seasonal variations in the meteorological conditions. Simulations of the coupled climate-ice sheet system thus face the dilemma of skillfully resolving short-lived phenomena, while also being computationally fast enough to run over tens of thousands of years. Further complications arise from the fact that the mass balance is a small residual of various contributions that individually are much larger, and that even a marginal bias will develop into an erroneous solution over the long integration time and when amplified by strong positive feedback mechanisms. As a possible solution, we present the BErgen Snow SImulator (BESSI), a surface energy and mass balance model that achieves computational efficiency while simulating all surface and internal fluxes of heat and mass explicitly and based on physical first principles. In its current configuration it covers most land areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Two large ensembles of simulations are investigated, one to calibrate the model and another one to assess its sensitivity to variations in air temperature.

scholarly journals Quantifying the effect of ocean bed properties on ice sheet geometry over 40,000 years with a full-Stokes model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Schannwell ◽  
Reinhard Drews ◽  
Todd A. Ehlers ◽  
Olaf Eisen ◽  
Christoph Mayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Observational Constraints ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Sediment Redistribution ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Fast Ice ◽  
Line Positions

Abstract. Simulations of ice sheet evolution over glacial cycles requires integration of observational constraints using ensemble studies with fast ice sheet models. These include physical parameterisations with uncertainties, for example, relating to grounding line migration. Ice dynamically more complete models are slow and have thus far only be applied for  50 % under almost equal forcing. Grounding line positions differ by up to 49 km, show significant hysteresis, and migrate non-steadily in both scenarios with long quiescent phases disrupted by leaps of rapid migration. The simulations quantify evolution of two different ice sheet geometries (namely thick and slow vs. thin and fast), triggered by the variable grounding line migration over the differing ocean beds. Our study extends the timescales of 3D full-Stokes by an order of magnitude to previous studies with the help of parallelisation. The extended time frame for full-Stokes models is a first step towards better understanding other processes such as erosion and sediment redistribution in the ice shelf cavity impacting the entire catchment geometry.

scholarly journals Dynamics of ~100-kyr glacial cycles during the early Miocene

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 2741-2766
Author(s):  
D. Liebrand ◽  
L. J. Lourens ◽  
D. A. Hodell ◽  
B. de Boer ◽  
R. S. W. van de Wal
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Threshold Response ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Eastern Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Record ◽  
Isotope Record

Abstract. Here, we present high-resolution stable isotope records from ODP Site 1264 in the South-Eastern Atlantic Ocean, which resolve the latest Oligocene to early Miocene (23.7–18.9 Ma) climate changes. Using an inverse modelling technique, we decomposed the oxygen isotope record into temperature and ice volume and found that the Antarctic ice sheet expanded during distinct episodes (e.g., Mi zones) of low short-term (~100-kyr) eccentricity forcing, which occur two to four long-term (400-kyr) eccentricity cycles apart. We argue that a~non-linear mechanism, such as the merging of (several) large East Antarctic ice sheets, caused the build-up of a larger ice sheet. During the termination phases of these larger ice sheets, on the contrary, we find a more linear response of ice-sheet variability to orbital forcing and climate became highly sensitive to the ~100-kyr eccentricity cycle. At the Oligocene-Miocene transition the model output indicates a decrease in Northern Hemisphere temperatures such that a small ice cap could develop on Greenland. This Supports the hypothesis of a threshold response for the development of Northern Hemisphere land ice to decreasing pCO2.

scholarly journals Basal temperature conditions of the Greenland ice sheet during the glacial cycles

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 226-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Huybrechts
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Temperature Conditions ◽  
Strongly Damped

A high-resolution, three-dimensional thermomechanical ice-sheet model, which includes isostasy, the possibility of ice-sheet expansion on the continental shelf and refined climatic parameterizations, was used to investigate the basal thermal regime of the Greenland ice sheet. The thermodynamic calculations take into account the usual terms of heat flow within the ice, a thermally active bedrock layer and all of the effects associated with changes in ice thickness and flow pattern. Basal temperature conditions are documented with respect to glacial–interracial shifts in climatic boundary conditions, both in steady state as during simulations over the last two glacial cycles using the GRIP δ 180 record. It is found that the basal temperature field shows a large sensitivity in steady-state experiments but that, during a glacial cycle, basal temperature variations are strongly damped, in particular in central areas. A comparison has been made with measured data from deep ice cores and the implications are discussed.

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