Iceberg discharges of the last glacial period driven by oceanic circulation changes

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Alvarez-Solas, Jorge, Robinson, Alexander, Montoya, Marisa, Ritz, Catherine
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2013
• Subjects: Physical Sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; Iceberg*; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3799353; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24062437; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1306622110

Periodic episodes of massive iceberg discharges from the large Northern Hemispheric ice sheets into the North Atlantic Ocean occurred throughout the last glacial cycle. It is still not clear whether they resulted from internal ice dynamics alone or were possibly externally driven. Results of our simulations of the Laurentide Ice Sheet forced by oceanic circulation changes support the hypothesis that these ice discharges were induced by the collapse of a buttressing ice shelf and the subsequent acceleration of inland ice streams. This provides a new basis for understanding the dynamics of the coupled cryosphere–climate system of glacial cycles. Additionally, it has strong implications for the stability of the marine parts of the Antarctic ice sheet given anthropogenic oceanic warming.