Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations
Whether there were more extensive glaciations during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 relative to MIS 2 across the Tian Shan in Central Asia is intensely debated because of the uncertainty in chronological data and fully understanding the driving mechanisms. To help resolve the ongoing debate, we as...
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KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2e2b083f7b2641bc92831cd90461219c 2023-05-15T16:41:28+02:00 Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Chuncheng Guo Zhongshi Zhang Jinzhe Zhang Huijun Wang 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2022.01.033 https://doaj.org/article/2e2b083f7b2641bc92831cd90461219c EN eng KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266732582200111X https://doaj.org/toc/2667-3258 2667-3258 doi:10.1016/j.fmre.2022.01.033 https://doaj.org/article/2e2b083f7b2641bc92831cd90461219c Fundamental Research, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 102-110 (2023) Glacier modeling Glacier sensitivity MIS 3 MIS 2 Tian Shan Paleoclimate modeling Science (General) Q1-390 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2022.01.033 2023-01-29T01:31:37Z Whether there were more extensive glaciations during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 relative to MIS 2 across the Tian Shan in Central Asia is intensely debated because of the uncertainty in chronological data and fully understanding the driving mechanisms. To help resolve the ongoing debate, we assess the climate sensitivity of the glaciers and reconstruct the extent of glaciation during MIS 2 and 3 across the Tian Shan, using a glacier-resolving (250 × 250 m) ice sheet model asynchronously coupled with a global climate model. Our results demonstrate that the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) over the Tian Shan decreases by ∼180 m for every 1 °C cooling under a modern precipitation regime, but precipitation reduction greatly lowers the sensitivity of the glaciers to temperature decrease (e.g., the effect of 2 °C cooling is broadly offset by a 50% decrease in precipitation). Under the modeled colder/drier-than-present climate, the model predicts an ELA depression (∆ELA) of ∼75 m (162 m) over the Tian Shan during MIS 3 interstadials (stadials). The extent of MIS 3 glaciation is much smaller than that during MIS 2 (i.e., ∆ELA = ∼726 m). The more extensive glaciation during MIS 2 is largely attributed to the enhanced summer cooling. Furthermore, through a site-to-site model-data comparison, we find that the closest match between the modeled glacier margin and the locations of the glacial deposits previously argued to be MIS 3 is generally achieved under MIS 2 climatic conditions. These results suggest more extensive glacier advances over the Tian Shan during MIS 2 than MIS 3 on a regional scale, although MIS 3 glaciation may still occur in individual glacier catchments. This pattern suggests general synchronicity with the timing of maximum Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last glacial, which should be further tested in a multimodel framework in the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Fundamental Research 3 1 102 110 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Glacier modeling Glacier sensitivity MIS 3 MIS 2 Tian Shan Paleoclimate modeling Science (General) Q1-390 |
spellingShingle |
Glacier modeling Glacier sensitivity MIS 3 MIS 2 Tian Shan Paleoclimate modeling Science (General) Q1-390 Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Chuncheng Guo Zhongshi Zhang Jinzhe Zhang Huijun Wang Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
topic_facet |
Glacier modeling Glacier sensitivity MIS 3 MIS 2 Tian Shan Paleoclimate modeling Science (General) Q1-390 |
description |
Whether there were more extensive glaciations during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 relative to MIS 2 across the Tian Shan in Central Asia is intensely debated because of the uncertainty in chronological data and fully understanding the driving mechanisms. To help resolve the ongoing debate, we assess the climate sensitivity of the glaciers and reconstruct the extent of glaciation during MIS 2 and 3 across the Tian Shan, using a glacier-resolving (250 × 250 m) ice sheet model asynchronously coupled with a global climate model. Our results demonstrate that the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) over the Tian Shan decreases by ∼180 m for every 1 °C cooling under a modern precipitation regime, but precipitation reduction greatly lowers the sensitivity of the glaciers to temperature decrease (e.g., the effect of 2 °C cooling is broadly offset by a 50% decrease in precipitation). Under the modeled colder/drier-than-present climate, the model predicts an ELA depression (∆ELA) of ∼75 m (162 m) over the Tian Shan during MIS 3 interstadials (stadials). The extent of MIS 3 glaciation is much smaller than that during MIS 2 (i.e., ∆ELA = ∼726 m). The more extensive glaciation during MIS 2 is largely attributed to the enhanced summer cooling. Furthermore, through a site-to-site model-data comparison, we find that the closest match between the modeled glacier margin and the locations of the glacial deposits previously argued to be MIS 3 is generally achieved under MIS 2 climatic conditions. These results suggest more extensive glacier advances over the Tian Shan during MIS 2 than MIS 3 on a regional scale, although MIS 3 glaciation may still occur in individual glacier catchments. This pattern suggests general synchronicity with the timing of maximum Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last glacial, which should be further tested in a multimodel framework in the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Chuncheng Guo Zhongshi Zhang Jinzhe Zhang Huijun Wang |
author_facet |
Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Chuncheng Guo Zhongshi Zhang Jinzhe Zhang Huijun Wang |
author_sort |
Qing Yan |
title |
Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
title_short |
Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
title_full |
Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
title_fullStr |
Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Widespread glacier advances across the Tian Shan during Marine Isotope Stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
title_sort |
widespread glacier advances across the tian shan during marine isotope stage 3 not supported by climate-glaciation simulations |
publisher |
KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2022.01.033 https://doaj.org/article/2e2b083f7b2641bc92831cd90461219c |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) |
geographic |
Ela |
geographic_facet |
Ela |
genre |
Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Fundamental Research, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 102-110 (2023) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266732582200111X https://doaj.org/toc/2667-3258 2667-3258 doi:10.1016/j.fmre.2022.01.033 https://doaj.org/article/2e2b083f7b2641bc92831cd90461219c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2022.01.033 |
container_title |
Fundamental Research |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
102 |
op_container_end_page |
110 |
_version_ |
1766031909869060096 |