Modelling long term ice sheet changes to understand the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet in a warmer world

• Main Author: Rahimian, Zahra
• Other Authors: Marshall, Shawn, Else, Brent G. T., Norman, Ann-Lise
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Arts 2020
• Subjects: Physical Geography; Environmental Sciences; Greenland; ice core; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111561; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37509

The Greenland Ice Sheet is under stress with the rising temperature. Ice sheet sensitivity to temperature changes and its contribution to global sea level rise can be estimated using ice sheet/climate models. This study combines an ice dynamics model and an isotope tracer model to carry out long-term coupled ice-sheet/climate simulations to investigate the vulnerability of the Greenland ice sheet to higher temperatures during the Eemian warming. I also examine how Eemian melting may have altered isotopic ratios and temperature reconstructions. The simulations are benchmarked against NEEM and Summit ice core observations to provide validation of model performance. I find that there is ice in central Greenland for climates up to 12ºC higher than present. Greenland’s contribution due to Eemian sea level most likely ranges between 2.8 to 4.3 m, associated with temperature anomalies from 5 to 9ºC. Melt-induced isotopic modifications can cause overestimation of 0.1-2ºC warming in proxy records.