Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate
Sparse measurements of glacier mass balance, velocity and ice thickness in Patagonia challenge our ability to understand glacier sensitivity to climate change and relate past glacier fluctuations to palaeoclimate change. Small ice caps, such as Monte San Lorenzo, have short response times and high c...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6cbf364257d54296a81974f85f3869e5 2023-05-15T16:38:02+02:00 Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate Julian Martin Bethan J. Davies Richard Jones Varyl Thorndycraft 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.831631 https://doaj.org/article/6cbf364257d54296a81974f85f3869e5 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.831631/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2022.831631 https://doaj.org/article/6cbf364257d54296a81974f85f3869e5 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 10 (2022) Patagonia glaciers and climate modelling PISM palaeoclimate Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.831631 2022-12-30T21:03:20Z Sparse measurements of glacier mass balance, velocity and ice thickness in Patagonia challenge our ability to understand glacier sensitivity to climate change and relate past glacier fluctuations to palaeoclimate change. Small ice caps, such as Monte San Lorenzo, have short response times and high climate sensitivity, making well-dated moraines in their glacier foregrounds an important tool for exploring glacier response to rapid changes in palaeoclimate. Here, the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) is used to model ice flow across a domain centred on the Monte San Lorenzo ice cap. Ice-flow parameters are calibrated to match present-day ice extent, velocity and thickness. Our aim is, firstly, to quantify present-day physical glacier properties, and ice cap dynamics and sensitivities, and secondarily, to evaluate the controls on the deglaciation of the ice cap within the context of the Southern Hemisphere palaeoclimate system during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT). The simulated present-day ice cap shows high surface mass flux, with ablation at outlet glacier tongues up to 18 m w. e. a−1, accumulation at the highest elevations of up to 5.5 m w. e. a−1 and a simulated Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) of 1750–2000 m asl. The ice cap is more sensitive to changes in precipitation relative to changes in temperature. We provide envelopes with likely ranges of palaeotemperature and palaeoprecipitation for glacial advances to moraines formed during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition and Holocene. Our numerical model predicts that cooling and an increase in precipitation is required to force glacial advance to mapped moraine limits at 12.1 ka (2°C cooler, 50% more precipitation), 5.6 ka (0°C cooler, 50% more precipitation) and 0.2 ka (1°C cooler, 25% more precipitation). Our modelling results thus provide insights into the present-day mass balance, thermal regime and velocity of the ice cap, explores the sensitivities of this ice cap to various model and climatic parameters, and provide palaeoclimatic ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Patagonia Ela ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) Frontiers in Earth Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Patagonia glaciers and climate modelling PISM palaeoclimate Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Patagonia glaciers and climate modelling PISM palaeoclimate Science Q Julian Martin Bethan J. Davies Richard Jones Varyl Thorndycraft Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate |
topic_facet |
Patagonia glaciers and climate modelling PISM palaeoclimate Science Q |
description |
Sparse measurements of glacier mass balance, velocity and ice thickness in Patagonia challenge our ability to understand glacier sensitivity to climate change and relate past glacier fluctuations to palaeoclimate change. Small ice caps, such as Monte San Lorenzo, have short response times and high climate sensitivity, making well-dated moraines in their glacier foregrounds an important tool for exploring glacier response to rapid changes in palaeoclimate. Here, the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) is used to model ice flow across a domain centred on the Monte San Lorenzo ice cap. Ice-flow parameters are calibrated to match present-day ice extent, velocity and thickness. Our aim is, firstly, to quantify present-day physical glacier properties, and ice cap dynamics and sensitivities, and secondarily, to evaluate the controls on the deglaciation of the ice cap within the context of the Southern Hemisphere palaeoclimate system during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT). The simulated present-day ice cap shows high surface mass flux, with ablation at outlet glacier tongues up to 18 m w. e. a−1, accumulation at the highest elevations of up to 5.5 m w. e. a−1 and a simulated Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) of 1750–2000 m asl. The ice cap is more sensitive to changes in precipitation relative to changes in temperature. We provide envelopes with likely ranges of palaeotemperature and palaeoprecipitation for glacial advances to moraines formed during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition and Holocene. Our numerical model predicts that cooling and an increase in precipitation is required to force glacial advance to mapped moraine limits at 12.1 ka (2°C cooler, 50% more precipitation), 5.6 ka (0°C cooler, 50% more precipitation) and 0.2 ka (1°C cooler, 25% more precipitation). Our modelling results thus provide insights into the present-day mass balance, thermal regime and velocity of the ice cap, explores the sensitivities of this ice cap to various model and climatic parameters, and provide palaeoclimatic ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Julian Martin Bethan J. Davies Richard Jones Varyl Thorndycraft |
author_facet |
Julian Martin Bethan J. Davies Richard Jones Varyl Thorndycraft |
author_sort |
Julian Martin |
title |
Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate |
title_short |
Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate |
title_full |
Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate |
title_fullStr |
Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modelled sensitivity of Monte San Lorenzo ice cap, Patagonian Andes, to past and present climate |
title_sort |
modelled sensitivity of monte san lorenzo ice cap, patagonian andes, to past and present climate |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.831631 https://doaj.org/article/6cbf364257d54296a81974f85f3869e5 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(9.642,9.642,63.170,63.170) |
geographic |
Patagonia Ela |
geographic_facet |
Patagonia Ela |
genre |
Ice cap Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Ice cap Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.831631/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2022.831631 https://doaj.org/article/6cbf364257d54296a81974f85f3869e5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.831631 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1766028326731776000 |