Thermomechanical modelling of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets with a two-level mass-balance parameterization

Climatic conditions for modelling the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets throughout the ice age cycle

The ice sheet-climate interaction as well as the climatic response to orbital parameters and atmospheric CO 2 content are examined in order to drive an ice sheet model throughout an ice age cycle. Feedback processes between ice sheet and atmosphere are analyzed by numerical experiments using a high resolution General Circulation 5 Model (GCM) under different conditions at the Last Glacial Maxim...

Mass balance of polar ice sheets.

Recent advances in the determination of the mass balance of polar ice sheets show that the Greenland Ice Sheet is losing mass by near-coastal thinning, and that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, with thickening in the west and thinning in the north, is probably thinning overall. The mass imbalance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is likely to be small, but even its sign cannot yet be determined. Lar...

Numerical reconstructions of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets through the last glacial-interglacial cycle

A 3-dimensional thermo-mechanical ice-sheet model is used to simulate the evolution of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets through the last glacial-interglacial cycle. The ice-sheet model is forced by the results from six different atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The climate evolution over the period under study is reconstructed using two climate equilibrium simulations performed...

Ice sheets and sea level.

Northern Hemisphere Ice-Sheet Influences on Global Climate Change

Large ice sheets actively interact with the rest of the climate system by amplifying, pacing, and potentially driving global climate change over several time scales. Direct and indirect influences of ice sheets on climate cause changes in ocean surface temperatures, ocean circulation, continental water balance, vegetation, and landsurface albedo, which in turn cause additional feedbacks in the ...