scholarly journals A Coupled Ice Sheet–Sea Level Model Incorporating 3D Earth Structure: Variations in Antarctica during the Last Deglacial Retreat

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (10) ◽  
pp. 4041-4054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalya Gomez ◽  
Konstantin Latychev ◽  
David Pollard

Abstract A gravitationally self-consistent, global sea level model with 3D viscoelastic Earth structure is interactively coupled to a 3D dynamic ice sheet model, and the coupled model is applied to simulate the evolution of ice cover, sea level changes, and solid Earth deformation over the last deglaciation, from 40 ka to the modern. The results show that incorporating lateral variations in Earth’s structure across Antarctica yields local differences in the modeled ice history and introduces significant uncertainty in estimates of both relative sea level change and modern crustal motions through the last deglaciation. An analysis indicates that the contribution of glacial isostatic adjustment to modern records of sea level change and solid Earth deformation in regions of Antarctica underlain by low mantle viscosity may be more sensitive to ice loading during the late Holocene than across the last deglaciation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Yousefi ◽  
Jeannette Wang ◽  
Linda Pan ◽  
Natalya Gomez ◽  
Konstantin Latychev ◽  
...  

<p>The future retreat of marine-based sectors of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) and its consequent global mean sea level (GMSL) rise is driven by various climatic and non-climatic feedbacks between ice, ocean, atmosphere, and solid Earth. The primary mode of ice loss in marine sectors of the AIS is dynamic flow of ice across the grounding line into the ocean. The flux of ice across the grounding line is strongly sensitive to the thickness of ice there, which is in turn proportional to the water depth (sea level) such that sea level rise enhances ice loss and grounding line retreat while sea level fall acts to slow or stop migration of the grounding line. In response to the unloading from removal of ice mass, the underlying bedrock deforms isostatically leading to lower local sea surface which promotes stabilization of the grounding line. In addition to its effect on AIS evolution, solid Earth deformation also alters the shape and size of the ocean basin areas that are exposed as marine areas of ice retreat and influences the amount of meltwater that leaves Antarctica and contributes to global sea-level rise. The solid Earth deformational response to surface loading changes, in terms of both magnitude and timescales, depends on Earth rheology. Seismic tomography models indicate that the interior structure of the Earth is highly variable over the Antarctica with anomalously low shallow mantle viscosities across the western section of the AIS. An improved projection of the contribution from AIS to sea level change requires a consideration of this complexity in Earth structure. Here we adopt a state-of-the-art seismic velocity model to build a high-resolution 3D viscoelastic structure model beneath Antarctica. We incorporate this structure into a high spatiotemporal resolution sea-level model to simulate the influence of solid Earth deformation on contributions of the AIS evolution to future sea-level change. Our sea-level model is coupled with the dynamics of PSU ice sheet model and our calculations are based on a range of future climate forcings. We show that the influence of applying a spatially variable Earth structure is significant, particularly in the regions of West Antarctica where upper mantle viscosities are lower and the elastic lithosphere is thinned.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike Bagge ◽  
Volker Klemann ◽  
Bernhard Steinberger ◽  
Milena Latinović ◽  
Maik Thomas

<p>The interaction between ice sheets and the solid Earth plays an important role for ice-sheet stability and sea-level change and hence for global climate models. Glacial-isostatic adjustment (GIA) models enable simulation of the solid Earth response due to variations in ice-sheet and ocean loading and prediction of the relative sea-level change. Because the viscoelastic response of the solid Earth depends on both ice-sheet distribution and the Earth’s rheology, independent constraints for the Earth structure in GIA models are beneficial. Seismic tomography models facilitate insights into the Earth’s interior, revealing lateral variability of the mantle viscosity that allows studying its relevance in GIA modeling. Especially, in regions of low mantle viscosity, the predicted surface deformations generated with such 3D GIA models differ considerably from those generated by traditional GIA models with radially symmetric structures. But also, the conversion from seismic velocity variations to viscosity is affected by a set of uncertainties. Here, we apply geodynamically constrained 3D Earth structures. We analyze the impact of conversion parameters (reduction factor in Arrhenius law and radial viscosity profile) on relative sea-level predictions. Furthermore, we focus on exemplary low-viscosity regions like the Cascadian subduction zone and southern Patagonia, which coincide with significant ice-mass changes.</p>


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie M. J. Nowicki ◽  
Tony Payne ◽  
Eric Larour ◽  
Helene Seroussi ◽  
Heiko Goelzer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Reducing the uncertainty in the past, present and future contribution of ice sheets to sea level change requires a coordinated effort between the climate and glaciology communities. The Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6) is the primary activity within the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project – phase 6 (CMIP6) focusing on the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. In this paper, we describe the framework for ISMIP6 and its relationship to other activities within CMIP6. The ISMIP6 experimental design relies on CMIP6 climate models and includes, for the first time within CMIP, coupled ice sheet – climate models as well as standalone ice sheet models. To facilitate analysis of the multi-model ensemble and to generate a set of standard climate inputs for standalone ice sheet models, ISMIP6 defines a protocol for all variables related to ice sheets. ISMIP6 will provide a basis for investigating the feedbacks, impacts, and sea level changes associated with dynamic ice sheets and for quantifying the uncertainty in ice-sheet-sourced global sea level change.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (13) ◽  
pp. 5263-5271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Jeramaz Lickley ◽  
Carling C. Hay ◽  
Mark E. Tamisiea ◽  
Jerry X. Mitrovica

Estimates of regional and global average sea level change remain a focus of climate change research. One complication in obtaining coherent estimates is that geodetic datasets measure different aspects of the sea level field. Satellite altimetry constrains changes in the sea surface height (SSH; or absolute sea level), whereas tide gauge data provide a measure of changes in SSH relative to the crust (i.e., relative sea level). The latter is a direct measure of changes in ocean volume (and the combined impacts of ice sheet melt and steric effects), but the former is not since it does not account for crustal deformation. Nevertheless, the literature commonly conflates the two estimates by directly comparing them. We demonstrate that using satellite altimetry records to estimate global ocean volume changes can lead to biases that can exceed 15%. The level of bias will depend on the relative contributions to sea level changes from the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets. The bias is also more sensitive to the detailed geometry of mass flux from the Antarctic Ice Sheet than the Greenland Ice Sheet due to rotational effects on sea level. Finally, in a regional sense, altimetry estimates should not be compared to relative sea level changes because radial crustal motions driven by polar ice mass flux are nonnegligible globally.


Boreas ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATS RUNDGREN ◽  
ÓLAFUR INGÓLFSSON ◽  
SVANTE BJÖRCK ◽  
HUI JIANG ◽  
HAFLIDI HAFLIDASON

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 4521-4545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie M. J. Nowicki ◽  
Anthony Payne ◽  
Eric Larour ◽  
Helene Seroussi ◽  
Heiko Goelzer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Reducing the uncertainty in the past, present, and future contribution of ice sheets to sea-level change requires a coordinated effort between the climate and glaciology communities. The Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6) is the primary activity within the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project – phase 6 (CMIP6) focusing on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. In this paper, we describe the framework for ISMIP6 and its relationship with other activities within CMIP6. The ISMIP6 experimental design relies on CMIP6 climate models and includes, for the first time within CMIP, coupled ice-sheet–climate models as well as standalone ice-sheet models. To facilitate analysis of the multi-model ensemble and to generate a set of standard climate inputs for standalone ice-sheet models, ISMIP6 defines a protocol for all variables related to ice sheets. ISMIP6 will provide a basis for investigating the feedbacks, impacts, and sea-level changes associated with dynamic ice sheets and for quantifying the uncertainty in ice-sheet-sourced global sea-level change.


GFF ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (sup004) ◽  
pp. 68-69
Author(s):  
M. Rundgren ◽  
Ó. Ingólfsson ◽  
S. Björck ◽  
Hui Jiang ◽  
H. Haflidason

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Yokoyama ◽  
Anthony Purcell

AbstractPast sea-level change represents the large-scale state of global climate, reflecting the waxing and waning of global ice sheets and the corresponding effect on ocean volume. Recent developments in sampling and analytical methods enable us to more precisely reconstruct past sea-level changes using geological indicators dated by radiometric methods. However, ice-volume changes alone cannot wholly account for these observations of local, relative sea-level change because of various geophysical factors including glacio-hydro-isostatic adjustments (GIA). The mechanisms behind GIA cannot be ignored when reconstructing global ice volume, yet they remain poorly understood within the general sea-level community. In this paper, various geophysical factors affecting sea-level observations are discussed and the details and impacts of these processes on estimates of past ice volumes are introduced.


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