scholarly journals Rapid Holocene Deglaciation of the Labrador Sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (20) ◽  
pp. 5126-5133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders E. Carlson ◽  
Peter U. Clark ◽  
Grant M. Raisbeck ◽  
Edward J. Brook
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Deep Seawater ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Holocene Thermal Maximum ◽  
Exposure Ages

Abstract Retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) following the Last Glacial Maximum 21 000 yr BP affected regional to global climate and accounted for the largest proportion of sea level rise. Although the late Pleistocene LIS retreat chronology is relatively well constrained, its Holocene chronology remains poorly dated, limiting our understanding of its role in Holocene climate change and sea level rise. Here new 10Be cosmogenic exposure ages on glacially deposited boulders are used to date the final disappearance of the Labrador sector of the LIS (LS-LIS). These data suggest that following the deglaciation of the southeastern Hudson Bay coastline at 8.0 ± 0.2 cal ka BP, the southwestern margin of the LS-LIS rapidly retreated ∼600 km in 140 yr and most likely in ∼600 yr at a rate of ∼900 m yr−1, with final deglaciation by 6.8 ± 0.2 10Be ka. The disappearance of the LS-LIS ∼6.8 10Be ka and attendant reduction in freshwater runoff may have induced the formation of Labrador Deep Seawater, while the loss of the high albedo surface may have initiated the Holocene Thermal Maximum in eastern Canada and southern Greenland. Moreover, the rapid melting just prior to ∼6.8 10Be ka indicates that the remnant LIS may be the primary source of a postulated rapid rise in global sea level of ∼5 m that occurred sometime between 7.6 and 6.5 cal ka BP.

Revised chronology of northwest Laurentide ice-sheet deglaciation from beryllium-10 exposure-dated erratics on the western Canadian Shield

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Reyes ◽  
Anders Carlson ◽  
Jesse Reimink
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Exposure Dating ◽  
Poor Region ◽  
A Site ◽  
Exposure Ages

<p>The timing of northwest Laurentide ice-sheet deglaciation is important for understanding how ice-sheet retreat, and associated meltwater discharge, may have been involved in abrupt climate change and rapid sea-level rise at the end of the last glaciation. However, the deglacial chronology across the western Canadian Shield is poorly understood, with only a handful of minimum-limiting <sup>14</sup>C dates and sparse cosmogenic nuclide exposure dates constraining the timing and pattern of northwest Laurentide ice-sheet retreat across >1000 km of ice-sheet retreat to the marine limit west of Hudson Bay. We present cosmogenic <sup>10</sup>Be surface exposure dating of glacial erratics at two sites, within a ~160,000 km<sup>2</sup> region with no reliable temporal constraints on ice-margin retreat, to directly date the timing of northwest Laurentide ice-sheet deglaciation. Six erratics perched directly on bedrock at a site on the western edge of the Slave Craton have exposure ages between 12.8±0.6 and 12.2±0.6 thousand years ago (ka; ±1sigma). Five erratics on bedrock, sampled at a site 115 km up-ice to the east, yielded exposure ages between 10.8±0.5 and 11.6±0.5 ka. When corrected for decreased atmospheric depth due to isostatic uplift since deglaciation, the error-weighted mean ages for the two sites indicate that the Laurentide ice sheet retreated through this region of the western Canadian Shield between 13.3±0.2 and 11.8±0.2 ka, or at least 1 kyr earlier than inferred from the canonical compilation of minimum-limiting <sup>14</sup>C dates for deglaciation and paleo-glaciological models. We tentatively infer a preliminary ice-margin retreat rate of ~0.1 m kyr<sup>-1 </sup>over this interval spanning much of the Younger Dryas which, compared to earlier estimates, implies a substantially lower volume of meltwater flux from the retreating northwest Laurentide ice sheet at this time.  Additional exposure ages on glacial erratics across this data-poor region are needed for validation of existing deglacial ice-sheet models, which can in turn contribute to comprehensive testing of hypotheses related to northwest Laurentide ice-sheet retreat rate, abrupt deglacial sea-level rise, and potential forcing of associated climate change events.</p>

scholarly journals Asynchronous Antarctic and Greenland ice-volume contributions to the last interglacial sea-level highstand

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eelco Rohling ◽  
Fiona Hibbert
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Ice Shelf

<p>Sea-level rise is among the greatest risks that arise from anthropogenic global climate change. It is receiving a lot of attention, among others in the IPCC reports, but major questions remain as to the potential contribution from the great continental ice sheets. In recent years, some modelling work has suggested that the ice-component of sea-level rise may be much faster than previously thought, but the rapidity of rise seen in these results depends on inclusion of scientifically debated mechanisms of ice-shelf decay and associated ice-sheet instability. The processes have not been active during historical times, so data are needed from previous warm periods to evaluate whether the suggested rates of sea-level rise are supported by observations or not. Also, we then need to assess which of the ice sheets was most sensitive, and why. The last interglacial (LIG; ~130,000 to ~118,000 years ago, ka) was the last time global sea level rose well above its present level, reaching a highstand of +6 to +9 m or more. Because Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) contributions were smaller than that, this implies substantial Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) contributions. However, this still leaves the timings, magnitudes, and drivers of GrIS and AIS reductions open to debate. I will discuss recently published sea-level reconstructions for the LIG highstand, which reveal that AIS and GrIS contributions were distinctly asynchronous, and that rates of rise to values above 0 m (present-day sea level) reached up to 3.5 m per century. Such high pre-anthropogenic rates of sea-level rise lend credibility to high rates inferred by ice modelling under certain ice-shelf instability parameterisations, for both the past and future. Climate forcing was distinctly asynchronous between the southern and northern hemispheres as well during the LIG, explaining the asynchronous sea-level contributions from AIS and GrIS. Today, climate forcing is synchronous between the two hemispheres, and also faster and greater than during the LIG. Therefore, LIG rates of sea-level rise should likely be considered minimum estimates for the future.</p>

scholarly journals Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2 °C global warming is highly dangerous

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (14) ◽  
pp. 20059-20179 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hansen ◽  
M. Sato ◽  
P. Hearty ◽  
R. Ruedy ◽  
M. Kelley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Doubling Time ◽  
Climate Modeling ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Melt

Abstract. There is evidence of ice melt, sea level rise to +5–9 m, and extreme storms in the prior interglacial period that was less than 1 °C warmer than today. Human-made climate forcing is stronger and more rapid than paleo forcings, but much can be learned by combining insights from paleoclimate, climate modeling, and on-going observations. We argue that ice sheets in contact with the ocean are vulnerable to non-linear disintegration in response to ocean warming, and we posit that ice sheet mass loss can be approximated by a doubling time up to sea level rise of at least several meters. Doubling times of 10, 20 or 40 years yield sea level rise of several meters in 50, 100 or 200 years. Paleoclimate data reveal that subsurface ocean warming causes ice shelf melt and ice sheet discharge. Our climate model exposes amplifying feedbacks in the Southern Ocean that slow Antarctic bottom water formation and increase ocean temperature near ice shelf grounding lines, while cooling the surface ocean and increasing sea ice cover and water column stability. Ocean surface cooling, in the North Atlantic as well as the Southern Ocean, increases tropospheric horizontal temperature gradients, eddy kinetic energy and baroclinicity, which drive more powerful storms. We focus attention on the Southern Ocean's role in affecting atmospheric CO2 amount, which in turn is a tight control knob on global climate. The millennial (500–2000 year) time scale of deep ocean ventilation affects the time scale for natural CO2 change, thus the time scale for paleo global climate, ice sheet and sea level changes. This millennial carbon cycle time scale should not be misinterpreted as the ice sheet time scale for response to a rapid human-made climate forcing. Recent ice sheet melt rates have a doubling time near the lower end of the 10–40 year range. We conclude that 2 °C global warming above the preindustrial level, which would spur more ice shelf melt, is highly dangerous. Earth's energy imbalance, which must be eliminated to stabilize climate, provides a crucial metric.

Cosmogenic nuclide age estimate for Laurentide Ice Sheet recession from the terminal moraine, New Jersey, USA, and constraints on latest Pleistocene ice sheet history

2017 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee B. Corbett ◽  
Paul R. Bierman ◽  
Byron D. Stone ◽  
Marc W. Caffee ◽  
Patrick L. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Terminal Moraine ◽  
Cosmogenic Nuclide ◽  
Fluvial Incision ◽  
Exposure Ages

AbstractThe time at which the Laurentide Ice Sheet reached its maximum extent and subsequently retreated from its terminal moraine in New Jersey has been constrained by bracketing radiocarbon ages on preglacial and postglacial sediments. Here, we present measurements of in situ produced 10Be and 26Al in 16 quartz-bearing samples collected from bedrock outcrops and glacial erratics just north of the terminal moraine in north-central New Jersey; as such, our ages represent a minimum limit on the timing of ice recession from the moraine. The data set includes field and laboratory replicates, as well as replication of the entire data set five years after initial measurement. We find that recession of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from the terminal moraine in New Jersey began before 25.2±2.1 ka (10Be, n=16, average, 1 standard deviation). This cosmogenic nuclide exposure age is consistent with existing limiting radiocarbon ages in the study area and cosmogenic nuclide exposure ages from the terminal moraine on Martha’s Vineyard ~300 km to the northeast. The age we propose for Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat from the New Jersey terminal position is broadly consistent with regional and global climate records of the last glacial maximum termination and records of fluvial incision.

10Be dating Cordilleran-Laurentide ice-sheet separation during the last deglaciation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorie Clark ◽  
Anders Carlson ◽  
Alberto Reyes ◽  
Glenn Milne
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Global Sea Level ◽  
Separation Results

<p>During the last glacial maximum, the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets met just to the east of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, forming an ice-sheet saddle. When this saddle disappeared has implications on deglacial global sea-level rise and abrupt climate change as well as human migration patterns to the Americas. We will present new 10-Be boulder ages from six sites on a ~1100 km transect along the ice-sheet suture zone, to date Cordilleran-Laurentide ice-sheet separation. Results will directly test whether or not Cordilleran-Laurentide separation contributed to abrupt sea-level rise during meltwater pulse 1a (14.6-14.3 ka) in response to abrupt Bølling warming (14.6-14.0 ka).</p>

scholarly journals Consequences of rapid ice sheet melting on the Sahelian population vulnerability

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (25) ◽  
pp. 6533-6538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri Defrance ◽  
Gilles Ramstein ◽  
Sylvie Charbit ◽  
Mathieu Vrac ◽  
Adjoua Moïse Famien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Freshwater Discharge ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Sahel Region

The acceleration of ice sheet melting has been observed over the last few decades. Recent observations and modeling studies have suggested that the ice sheet contribution to future sea level rise could have been underestimated in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The ensuing freshwater discharge coming from ice sheets could have significant impacts on global climate, and especially on the vulnerable tropical areas. During the last glacial/deglacial period, megadrought episodes were observed in the Sahel region at the time of massive iceberg surges, leading to large freshwater discharges. In the future, such episodes have the potential to induce a drastic destabilization of the Sahelian agroecosystem. Using a climate modeling approach, we investigate this issue by superimposing on the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) baseline experiment a Greenland flash melting scenario corresponding to an additional sea level rise ranging from 0.5 m to 3 m. Our model response to freshwater discharge coming from Greenland melting reveals a significant decrease of the West African monsoon rainfall, leading to changes in agricultural practices. Combined with a strong population increase, described by different demography projections, important human migration flows could be potentially induced. We estimate that, without any adaptation measures, tens to hundreds million people could be forced to leave the Sahel by the end of this century. On top of this quantification, the sea level rise impact over coastal areas has to be superimposed, implying that the Sahel population could be strongly at threat in case of rapid Greenland melting.

Could climate engineering save the Greenland Ice Sheet?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Applegate ◽  
K. Keller
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Computer Model ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Climate Engineering ◽  
Air Temperatures

Engineering the climate through albedo modification (AM) could slow, but probably would not stop, melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Albedo modification is a technology that could reduce surface air temperatures through putting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere. AM has never been tested, but it might reduce surface air temperatures faster and more cheaply than reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Some scientists claim that AM would also prevent or reverse sea-level rise. But, are these claims true? The Greenland Ice Sheet will melt faster at higher temperatures, adding to sea-level rise. However, it's not clear that reducing temperatures through AM will stop or reverse sea-level rise due to Greenland Ice Sheet melting. We used a computer model of the Greenland Ice Sheet to examine its contributions to future sea level rise, with and without AM. Our results show that AM would probably reduce the rate of sea-level rise from the Greenland Ice Sheet. However, sea-level rise would likely continue even with AM, and the ice sheet would not regrow quickly. Albedo modification might buy time to prepare for sea-level rise, but problems could arise if policymakers assume that AM will stop sea-level rise completely.

scholarly journals Refining Estimates of Polar Ice Volumes during the MIS11 Interglacial Using Sea Level Records from South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (23) ◽  
pp. 8740-8746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Chen ◽  
Sarah Friedman ◽  
Charles G. Gertler ◽  
James Looney ◽  
Nizhoni O’Connell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Sea Level Change ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Level Change ◽  
Isostatic Adjustment ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Numerical Predictions

Abstract Peak eustatic sea level (ESL), or minimum ice volume, during the protracted marine isotope stage 11 (MIS11) interglacial at ~420 ka remains a matter of contention. A recent study of high-stand markers of MIS11 age from the tectonically stable southern coast of South Africa estimated a peak ESL of 13 m. The present study refines this estimate by taking into account both the uncertainty in the correction for glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and the geographic variability of sea level change following polar ice sheet collapse. In regard to the latter, the authors demonstrate, using gravitationally self-consistent numerical predictions of postglacial sea level change, that rapid melting from any of the three major polar ice sheets (West Antarctic, Greenland, or East Antarctic) will lead to a local sea level rise in southern South Africa that is 15%–20% higher than the eustatic sea level rise associated with the ice sheet collapse. Taking this amplification and a range of possible GIA corrections into account and assuming that the tectonic correction applied in the earlier study is correct, the authors revise downward the estimate of peak ESL during MIS11 to 8–11.5 m.

Observations of postglacial uplift at Churchill, Manitoba

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 2418-2425 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mark Tushingham
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Isostatic Adjustment ◽  
Tide Gauge Record ◽  
Isostatic Adjustment ◽  
Absolute Gravimetry ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Level Data

Churchill, Manitoba, is located near the centre of postglacial uplift caused by the Earth's recovery from the melting of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The value of present-day uplift at Churchill has important implications in the study of postglacial uplift in that it can aid in constraining the thickness of the ice sheet and the rheology of the Earth. The tide-gauge record at Churchill since 1940 is examined, along with nearby Holocene relative sea-level data, geodetic measurements, and recent absolute gravimetry measurements, and a present-day rate of uplift of 8–9 mm/a is estimated. Glacial isostatic adjustment models yield similar estimates for the rate of uplift at Churchill. The effects of the tide-gauge record of the diversion of the Churchill River during the mid-1970's are discussed.

Gaussian Process emulation of multi-model ice sheet and glacier projections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamsin Edwards ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gaussian Process ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Gaussian Process Emulation ◽  
Model Ensembles ◽  
Global Mean

<p><strong>The land ice contribution to global mean sea level rise has not yet been predicted with ice sheet and glacier models for the latest set of socio-economic scenarios (SSPs), nor with coordinated exploration of uncertainties arising from the various computer models involved. Two recent international projects (ISMIP6 and GlacierMIP) generated a large suite of projections using multiple models, but mostly used previous generation scenarios and climate models, and could not fully explore known uncertainties. </strong></p><p><strong>Here we estimate probability distributions for these projections for the SSPs using Gaussian Process emulation of the ice sheet and glacier model ensembles. We model the sea level contribution as a function of global mean surface air temperature forcing and (for the ice sheets) model parameters, with the 'nugget' allowing for multi-model structural uncertainty. Approximate independence of ice sheet and glacier models is assumed, because a given model responds very differently under different setups (such as initialisation). </strong></p><p><strong>We find that limiting global warming to 1.5</strong>°<strong>C </strong><strong>would halve the land ice contribution to 21<sup>st</sup> century </strong><strong>sea level rise</strong><strong>, relative to current emissions pledges: t</strong><strong>he median decreases from 25 to 13 cm sea level equivalent (SLE) by 2100. However, the Antarctic contribution does not show a clear response to emissions scenario, due to competing processes of increasing ice loss and snowfall accumulation in a warming climate. </strong></p><p><strong>However, under risk-averse (pessimistic) assumptions for climate and Antarctic ice sheet model selection and ice sheet model parameter values, Antarctic ice loss could be five times higher, increasing the median land ice contribution to 42 cm SLE under current policies and pledges, with the 95<sup>th</sup> percentile exceeding half a metre even under 1.5</strong>°<strong>C warming. </strong></p><p><strong>Gaussian Process emulation can therefore be a powerful tool for estimating probability density functions from multi-model ensembles and testing the sensitivity of the results to assumptions.</strong></p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document