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...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:615b17371a6e41c4b5bd6777be1c6be1 2023-05-15T16:28:32+02:00 The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing I. Tabone J. Blasco A. Robinson J. Alvarez-Solas M. Montoya 2018-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 https://doaj.org/article/615b17371a6e41c4b5bd6777be1c6be1 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.clim-past.net/14/455/2018/cp-14-455-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/615b17371a6e41c4b5bd6777be1c6be1 Climate of the Past, Vol 14, Pp 455-472 (2018) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 2022-12-31T02:17:58Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Climate of the Past 14 4 455 472 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 I. Tabone J. Blasco A. Robinson J. Alvarez-Solas M. Montoya The sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to glacial–interglacial oceanic forcing |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
I. Tabone J. Blasco A. Robinson J. Alvarez-Solas M. Montoya |
author_facet |
I. Tabone J. Blasco A. Robinson J. Alvarez-Solas M. Montoya |
author_sort |
I. Tabone |
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 |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 https://doaj.org/article/615b17371a6e41c4b5bd6777be1c6be1 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Greenland Ice Sheet North Atlantic |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 14, Pp 455-472 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.clim-past.net/14/455/2018/cp-14-455-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/615b17371a6e41c4b5bd6777be1c6be1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-455-2018 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
455 |
op_container_end_page |
472 |
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1766018191019999232 |