Modelling Greenland ice sheet inception and sustainability during the Late Pliocene

• Published in: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
• Main Authors: Contoux, C., Dumas, C., Ramstein, G., Jost, A., Dolan, A.M.
• Other Authors: Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Modélisation du climat (CLIM), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Milieux Environnementaux, Transferts et Interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les Sols (METIS), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Earth and Environment Leeds (SEE), University of Leeds
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Greenland ice sheet; Pliocene; paleoclimate modelling; ice sheet modelling; [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01806173; https://hal.science/hal-01806173/document; https://hal.science/hal-01806173/file/Contoux_et_al_2015_EPSL_AAM_NoTrackChanges.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.05.018

International audience Understanding the evolution and dynamics of ice sheet growth during past warm periods is a very important topic considering the potential total removal of the Greenland ice sheet. In this regard, one key event is the full glaciation of Greenland that occurred at the end of the Pliocene warm period, which remains partially unexplained. Previous modelling studies succeeded in reproducing this full glaciation either by imposing an unrealistically low CO2 value or by imposing a partial ice sheet over the surface of Greenland. Although they highlight some fundamental mechanisms, none of these studies are fully satisfactory because they do not reflect realistic conditions occurring during the Late Pliocene. Through a series of simulations with the IPSL-CM5A coupled climate model used to force the GRISLI ice sheet model, we show that a drop in CO2 levels does not lead to an abrupt inception of the Greenland ice sheet. High ablation rates in central and northern Greenland combined with low accumulation prevent such an abrupt inception. Ice sheet inception occurs when low summer insolation and CO2 levels below modern values are combined, the Greenland ice sheet being restricted to the southeast region, where high topography favours this build-up. This ice sheet experiences only partial melting during summer insolation maxima combined with high CO2 levels. Further growth of the ice sheet with recoupling experiments is important at 360 and 280 ppm during insolation minima. Thus, the full glaciation at 2.6 Ma could be the result of a cumulative build-up of the Greenland ice sheet over several orbital cycles, leading to progressively more intense glaciations during low summer insolation periods. Although this result could be a shortcoming of the modelling framework itself, the gradual glacial inception interpreted from the oxygen isotope record could support our scenario.