Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions
Numerical models predict that discharge from the polar ice sheets will become the largest contributor to sea-level rise over the coming centuries. However, the predicted amount of ice discharge and associated thinning depends on how well ice sheet models reproduce glaciological processes, such as ic...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:35305fba958b4715bac17cbddc999069 2023-05-15T13:46:46+02:00 Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions M. Mas e Braga R. Selwyn Jones J. C. H. Newall I. Rogozhina J. L. Andersen N. A. Lifton A. P. Stroeven 2021-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021 https://doaj.org/article/35305fba958b4715bac17cbddc999069 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4929/2021/tc-15-4929-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/35305fba958b4715bac17cbddc999069 The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 4929-4947 (2021) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021 2022-12-31T08:00:40Z Numerical models predict that discharge from the polar ice sheets will become the largest contributor to sea-level rise over the coming centuries. However, the predicted amount of ice discharge and associated thinning depends on how well ice sheet models reproduce glaciological processes, such as ice flow in regions of large topographic relief, where ice flows around bedrock summits (i.e. nunataks) and through outlet glaciers. The ability of ice sheet models to capture long-term ice loss is best tested by comparing model simulations against geological data. A benchmark for such models is ice surface elevation change, which has been constrained empirically at nunataks and along margins of outlet glaciers using cosmogenic exposure dating. However, the usefulness of this approach in quantifying ice sheet thinning relies on how well such records represent changes in regional ice surface elevation. Here we examine how ice surface elevations respond to the presence of strong topographic relief that acts as an obstacle by modelling ice flow around and between idealised nunataks during periods of imposed ice sheet thinning. We find that, for realistic Antarctic conditions, a single nunatak can exert an impact on ice thickness over 20 km away from its summit, with its most prominent effect being a local increase (decrease) of the ice surface elevation of hundreds of metres upstream (downstream) of the obstacle. A direct consequence of this differential surface response for cosmogenic exposure dating is a delay in the time of bedrock exposure upstream relative to downstream of a nunatak summit. A nunatak elongated transversely to ice flow is able to increase ice retention and therefore impose steeper ice surface gradients, while efficient ice drainage through outlet glaciers produces gentler gradients. Such differences, however, are not typically captured by continent-wide ice sheet models due to their coarse grid resolutions. Their inability to capture site-specific surface elevation changes appears to be a key reason ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Cryosphere 15 10 4929 4947 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 M. Mas e Braga R. Selwyn Jones J. C. H. Newall I. Rogozhina J. L. Andersen N. A. Lifton A. P. Stroeven Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Numerical models predict that discharge from the polar ice sheets will become the largest contributor to sea-level rise over the coming centuries. However, the predicted amount of ice discharge and associated thinning depends on how well ice sheet models reproduce glaciological processes, such as ice flow in regions of large topographic relief, where ice flows around bedrock summits (i.e. nunataks) and through outlet glaciers. The ability of ice sheet models to capture long-term ice loss is best tested by comparing model simulations against geological data. A benchmark for such models is ice surface elevation change, which has been constrained empirically at nunataks and along margins of outlet glaciers using cosmogenic exposure dating. However, the usefulness of this approach in quantifying ice sheet thinning relies on how well such records represent changes in regional ice surface elevation. Here we examine how ice surface elevations respond to the presence of strong topographic relief that acts as an obstacle by modelling ice flow around and between idealised nunataks during periods of imposed ice sheet thinning. We find that, for realistic Antarctic conditions, a single nunatak can exert an impact on ice thickness over 20 km away from its summit, with its most prominent effect being a local increase (decrease) of the ice surface elevation of hundreds of metres upstream (downstream) of the obstacle. A direct consequence of this differential surface response for cosmogenic exposure dating is a delay in the time of bedrock exposure upstream relative to downstream of a nunatak summit. A nunatak elongated transversely to ice flow is able to increase ice retention and therefore impose steeper ice surface gradients, while efficient ice drainage through outlet glaciers produces gentler gradients. Such differences, however, are not typically captured by continent-wide ice sheet models due to their coarse grid resolutions. Their inability to capture site-specific surface elevation changes appears to be a key reason ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Mas e Braga R. Selwyn Jones J. C. H. Newall I. Rogozhina J. L. Andersen N. A. Lifton A. P. Stroeven |
author_facet |
M. Mas e Braga R. Selwyn Jones J. C. H. Newall I. Rogozhina J. L. Andersen N. A. Lifton A. P. Stroeven |
author_sort |
M. Mas e Braga |
title |
Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
title_short |
Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
title_full |
Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
title_fullStr |
Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
title_sort |
nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021 https://doaj.org/article/35305fba958b4715bac17cbddc999069 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 4929-4947 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/4929/2021/tc-15-4929-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/35305fba958b4715bac17cbddc999069 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-4929-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
4929 |
op_container_end_page |
4947 |
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1766245182558175232 |