Sensitivity of the Late Saalian (140 kyrs BP) and LGM (21 kyrs BP) Eurasian ice sheet surface mass balance to vegetation feedbacks

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Colleoni, Florence, Kirnner, Gerhard, Jakobsson, Martin
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Geology and Geochemistry Stockholm, Stockholm University, ANR IDEGLACE; The Bert Bolin Center for Climate Research; Explora Doc; Lavoisier cotutelle, ANR IDEGLACE, The Bert Bolin Center for Climate Research, ANR-05-BLAN-0310,IDEGLACE,Impact de Décharges d'Eau douce provenant de la GLace continentale sur le Climat Européen et méditerranéen(2005)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: simulated vegetation; MIS 6; Late Quaternary; ice sheet; surface mass balance; Eurasia; atmosphere; modeling; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00411076; https://hal.science/hal-00411076/document; https://hal.science/hal-00411076/file/2009GL037200.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037200

5 pp International audience This work uses an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) asynchronously coupled to an equilibrium vegetation model to investigate whether vegetation feedbacks could be one of the reasons why the Late Saalian ice sheet (140 kyrs BP) in Eurasia was substantially larger than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 kyrs BP) Eurasian ice sheet. The modeled vegetation changes induce a regional cooling for the Late Saalian while they cause a slight regional warming for LGM. As a result, ablation along the margins of the Late Saalian ice sheet is significantly reduced, leading to an increased surface mass balance, while there are no significant mass balance changes observed from vegetation feedbacks at LGM.