Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings
Numerical simulations of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) over geologic timescales can greatly improve our knowledge of the critical factors driving GrIS demise during climatically warm periods, which has clear relevance for better predicting GrIS behavior over the upcoming centuries. To assess the fi...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 https://doaj.org/article/f2161e1c16a44c1ba80e04504dd527fb |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f2161e1c16a44c1ba80e04504dd527fb 2023-05-15T16:21:24+02:00 Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings J. K. Cuzzone N. E. Young M. Morlighem J. P. Briner N.-J. Schlegel 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 https://doaj.org/article/f2161e1c16a44c1ba80e04504dd527fb EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2355/2022/tc-16-2355-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f2161e1c16a44c1ba80e04504dd527fb The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 2355-2372 (2022) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 2022-12-31T02:54:08Z Numerical simulations of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) over geologic timescales can greatly improve our knowledge of the critical factors driving GrIS demise during climatically warm periods, which has clear relevance for better predicting GrIS behavior over the upcoming centuries. To assess the fidelity of these modeling efforts, however, observational constraints of past ice sheet change are needed. Across southwestern Greenland, geologic records detail Holocene ice retreat across both terrestrial-based and marine-terminating environments, providing an ideal opportunity to rigorously benchmark model simulations against geologic reconstructions of ice sheet change. Here, we present regional ice sheet modeling results using the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) of Holocene ice sheet history across an extensive fjord region in southwestern Greenland covering the landscape around the Kangiata Nunaata Sermia (KNS) glacier and extending outward along the 200 km Nuup Kangerula (Godthåbsfjord). Our simulations, forced by reconstructions of Holocene climate and recently implemented calving laws, assess the sensitivity of ice retreat across the KNS region to atmospheric and oceanic forcing. Our simulations reveal that the geologically reconstructed ice retreat across the terrestrial landscape in the study area was likely driven by fluctuations in surface mass balance in response to Early Holocene warming – and was likely not influenced significantly by the response of adjacent outlet glaciers to calving and ocean-induced melting. The impact of ice calving within fjords, however, plays a significant role by enhancing ice discharge at the terminus, leading to interior thinning up to the ice divide that is consistent with reconstructed magnitudes of Early Holocene ice thinning. Our results, benchmarked against geologic constraints of past ice-margin change, suggest that while calving did not strongly influence Holocene ice-margin migration across terrestrial portions of the KNS forefield, it strongly impacted ... Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Godthåbsfjord Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland The Cryosphere 16 6 2355 2372 |
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 J. K. Cuzzone N. E. Young M. Morlighem J. P. Briner N.-J. Schlegel Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Numerical simulations of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) over geologic timescales can greatly improve our knowledge of the critical factors driving GrIS demise during climatically warm periods, which has clear relevance for better predicting GrIS behavior over the upcoming centuries. To assess the fidelity of these modeling efforts, however, observational constraints of past ice sheet change are needed. Across southwestern Greenland, geologic records detail Holocene ice retreat across both terrestrial-based and marine-terminating environments, providing an ideal opportunity to rigorously benchmark model simulations against geologic reconstructions of ice sheet change. Here, we present regional ice sheet modeling results using the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) of Holocene ice sheet history across an extensive fjord region in southwestern Greenland covering the landscape around the Kangiata Nunaata Sermia (KNS) glacier and extending outward along the 200 km Nuup Kangerula (Godthåbsfjord). Our simulations, forced by reconstructions of Holocene climate and recently implemented calving laws, assess the sensitivity of ice retreat across the KNS region to atmospheric and oceanic forcing. Our simulations reveal that the geologically reconstructed ice retreat across the terrestrial landscape in the study area was likely driven by fluctuations in surface mass balance in response to Early Holocene warming – and was likely not influenced significantly by the response of adjacent outlet glaciers to calving and ocean-induced melting. The impact of ice calving within fjords, however, plays a significant role by enhancing ice discharge at the terminus, leading to interior thinning up to the ice divide that is consistent with reconstructed magnitudes of Early Holocene ice thinning. Our results, benchmarked against geologic constraints of past ice-margin change, suggest that while calving did not strongly influence Holocene ice-margin migration across terrestrial portions of the KNS forefield, it strongly impacted ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. K. Cuzzone N. E. Young M. Morlighem J. P. Briner N.-J. Schlegel |
author_facet |
J. K. Cuzzone N. E. Young M. Morlighem J. P. Briner N.-J. Schlegel |
author_sort |
J. K. Cuzzone |
title |
Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
title_short |
Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
title_full |
Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
title_fullStr |
Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
title_full_unstemmed |
Simulating the Holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern Greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
title_sort |
simulating the holocene deglaciation across a marine-terminating portion of southwestern greenland in response to marine and atmospheric forcings |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 https://doaj.org/article/f2161e1c16a44c1ba80e04504dd527fb |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Godthåbsfjord Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
glacier Godthåbsfjord Greenland Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 16, Pp 2355-2372 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2355/2022/tc-16-2355-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f2161e1c16a44c1ba80e04504dd527fb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2355-2022 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2355 |
op_container_end_page |
2372 |
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1766009399402299392 |