Studies on the variability of the Greenland Ice Sheet and climate

• Published in: Polar Science
• Main Authors: Goto-Azuma, Kumiko, Homma, Tomoyuki, Saruya, Tomotaka, Nakazawa, Fumio, Komuro, Yuki, Nagatsuka, Naoko, Hirabayashi, Motohiro, Kondo, Yutaka, Koike, Makoto, Aoki, Teruo, Greve, Ralf, Okuno, Jun'ichi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier
• Subjects: Greenland Ice Sheet; Ice core; Surface mass balance; Flow law; Sea level change; 452; Arctic; Greenland; black carbon; East Greenland; East Greenland Ice-core Project; Greenland ice core; Greenland Ice core Project; ice core; Ice Sheet; Polar Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/90188; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2020.100557

We review major scientific results from Subtheme (1) "Variability of the Greenland Ice Sheet and climate" under Research Theme 2 "Variations in the ice sheet, glaciers, and the environment in the Greenland region" of the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) project. We participated in the international East Greenland Ice Core Project (EGRIP) led by Denmark, conducted snow pit observations near the coring site and reconstructed the surface mass balance over the past 10 years. Analyses of an ice core from Northwest Greenland revealed temporal variability in black carbon concentration over the past 350 years and in mineral dust over the past 100 years. To understand the mechanisms of ice-sheet flow, which is necessary for accurate predictions of sea level rise, we conducted laboratory experiments using artificial ice and derived an improved flow law for ice containing impurities. Ice sheet modeling was improved by including effects of impurities and ice stream dynamics. As part of the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (ISMIP6), we simulated ice sheet mass loss and contribution to sea level rise over the 21st century and beyond. Furthermore, we developed a Glacial Isostatic Adjustment model to better constrain ice sheet models.