Brief communication "Can recent ice discharges following the Larsen-B ice-shelf collapse be used to infer the driving mechanisms of millennial-scale variations of the Laurentide ice sheet?"

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Alvarez-Solas, J., Robinson, A., Ritz, C.
• Other Authors: 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), Departamento de Astrofisica y Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid Madrid (UCM), Campus de Exelencia Internacional (CEI), Instituto de Geociencias Madrid (IGEO), Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid Madrid (UCM)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid (CSIC)-Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid Madrid (UCM)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Madrid (CSIC), Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), MOVAC and SPECT-MORE projects
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice Sheet; Ice Shelf; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00843569; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00843569/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00843569/file/tc-6-687-2012.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-6-687-2012

International audience The effects of an ice-shelf collapse on inland glacier dynamics have recently been widely studied, especially since the breakup of the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen-B ice shelf in 2002. Several studies have documented acceleration of the ice streams that were flowing into the former ice shelf. The mechanism responsible for such a speed-up lies with the removal of the ice-shelf backforce. Independently, it is also well documented that during the last glacial period, the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets experienced large discharges into the ocean, likely reflecting ice flow acceleration episodes on the millennial time scale. The classic interpretation of the latter is based on the existence of an internal thermo-mechanical feedback with the potential to generate oscillatory behavior in the ice sheets. Here we would like to widen the debate by considering that Larsen-B-like glacial analog episodes could have contributed significantly to the registered millennial-scale variablity.