The configuration of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets through the Quaternary.

• Main Authors: Batchelor, Christine L, Margold, Martin, Krapp, Mario, Murton, Della K, Dalton, April S, Gibbard, Philip L, Stokes, Chris R, Murton, Julian B, Manica, Andrea
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2019
• Subjects: 37 Earth Sciences; 3709 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience; 3705 Geology; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/295812; https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.42859

Our understanding of how global climatic changes are translated into ice-sheet fluctuations and sea-level change is currently limited by a lack of knowledge of the configuration of ice sheets prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Here, we compile a synthesis of empirical data and numerical modelling results related to pre-LGM ice sheets to produce new hypotheses regarding their extent in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) at 17 time-slices that span the Quaternary. Our reconstructions illustrate pronounced ice-sheet asymmetry within the last glacial cycle and significant variations in ice-marginal positions between older glacial cycles. We find support for a significant reduction in the extent of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) during MIS 3, implying that global sea levels may have been 30-40 m higher than most previous estimates. Our ice-sheet reconstructions illustrate the current state-of-the-art knowledge of pre-LGM ice sheets and provide a conceptual framework to interpret NH landscape evolution. During this work, CLB was in receipt of a Junior Research Fellowship at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, and a grant from the Norwegian VISTA programme. MM was supported by a Swedish Research Council International Postdoctoral Fellowship (No. 637-561 2014-483). This work was supported by an ERC Consolidator Grant to AM (Local 562 Adaptation 647787). The Leverhulme Foundation is also thanked for financial support to PLG, and we acknowledge funding from the DIFeREns2 Junior Research Fellowship (No. 564 609412; Durham University) to ASD.