Model output of the Greenland Ice Sheet to interglacial climate forcing: MIS 5e versus MIS 11

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is thought to have contributed substantially to high global sea levels during the interglacials of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e and 11. Geological evidence suggests that the mass loss of the GrIS was greater during the peak interglacial of MIS 11 than MIS 5e, despite...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rachmayani, Rima, Prange, Matthias, Lunt, Daniel J, Stone, Emma J, Schulz, Michael
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2017
Subjects:
Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
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Integrierte Analyse zwischeneiszeitlicher Klimadynamik
INTERDYNAMIK
MARUM
Uniform resource locator/link to file
Greenland
Ice Sheet
North Atlantic Deep Water
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.879318
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.879318
Description
Summary:The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is thought to have contributed substantially to high global sea levels during the interglacials of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e and 11. Geological evidence suggests that the mass loss of the GrIS was greater during the peak interglacial of MIS 11 than MIS 5e, despite a weaker boreal summer insolation. We address this conundrum by using the three-dimensional thermomechanical ice-sheet model Glimmer forced by CCSM3 climate model output for MIS 5e and MIS 11 interglacial time slices. Our results suggest a stronger sensitivity of the GrIS to MIS 11 climate forcing than to MIS 5e forcing. Besides stronger greenhouse gas radiative forcing, the greater MIS 11 GrIS mass loss relative to MIS 5e is attributed to a larger oceanic heat transport towards high latitudes by a stronger Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. The vigorous MIS 11 ocean overturning, in turn, is related to a stronger wind-driven salt transport from low to high latitudes promoting North Atlantic Deep Water formation. The orbital insolation forcing, which causes the ocean current anomalies, is discussed.

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