Can Milankovitch orbital variations initiate the growth of ice sheets in a general circulation model?

• Main Authors: Rind, D., Peteet, D., Kukla, G.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1989
• Subjects: 47; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19900024562

The possibility of initiating the growth of ice sheets by solar insolation variations is examined. The study is conducted using a climate model with three different orbital configurations corresponding to 116,000 and 106,000 yr before the present and a modified insolation field with greater reductions in summer insolation at high northern latitudes. Despite the reduced summer and fall insolation, the model fails to maintain snow cover through the summer at locations of suspected ice sheet initiation. The results suggest that there is a discrepancy between the model's response to Milankovitch perturbations and the geophysical evidence of ice sheet initiation. If the model results are correct, the growth of ice shown by geophysical evidence would have occurred in an extremely ablative environment, demanding a complicated strategy.