The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing
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 tempe...
Published in: | Climate of the Past |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Other Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
European Geosciences Union
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/185811 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 |
id |
ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/185811 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/185811 2024-02-11T10:04:20+01:00 The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing Tabone, Ilaria Blasco, Javier Álvarez-Solas, J. Montoya, Marisa Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) European Commission Robinson, Alexander 2018-04-09 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/185811 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 en eng European Geosciences Union #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/CGL2014-59384-R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/703251 Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 Sí Climate of the Past 14(4): 455-472 (2018) 1814-9324 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/185811 doi:10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 1814-9332 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 open artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2018 ftcsic https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-201810.13039/50110000332910.13039/501100000780 2024-01-16T10:41:12Z 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. This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the project MOCCA (Modelling Abrupt Climate Change, grant no. CGL2014-59384-R). Ilaria Tabone is funded by the Spanish National Programme for the Promotion of Talent and Its Employability (grant ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Greenland Climate of the Past 14 4 455 472 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
op_collection_id |
ftcsic |
language |
English |
description |
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. This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the project MOCCA (Modelling Abrupt Climate Change, grant no. CGL2014-59384-R). Ilaria Tabone is funded by the Spanish National Programme for the Promotion of Talent and Its Employability (grant ... |
author2 |
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) European Commission Robinson, Alexander |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tabone, Ilaria Blasco, Javier Álvarez-Solas, J. Montoya, Marisa |
spellingShingle |
Tabone, Ilaria Blasco, Javier Álvarez-Solas, J. Montoya, Marisa The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
author_facet |
Tabone, Ilaria Blasco, Javier Álvarez-Solas, J. Montoya, Marisa |
author_sort |
Tabone, Ilaria |
title |
The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
title_short |
The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
title_full |
The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
title_fullStr |
The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
title_full_unstemmed |
The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
title_sort |
sensitivity of the greenland ice sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
publisher |
European Geosciences Union |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/185811 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic |
op_relation |
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/CGL2014-59384-R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/703251 Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 Sí Climate of the Past 14(4): 455-472 (2018) 1814-9324 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/185811 doi:10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 1814-9332 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 |
op_rights |
open |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-201810.13039/50110000332910.13039/501100000780 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
455 |
op_container_end_page |
472 |
_version_ |
1790600921779011584 |