The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
Ice sheet models are the only physically-based tools that allow us to simulate the future evolution of the AntarcticIce Sheet, including its contribution towards changes in global sea level. However, due to limitations in ourunderstanding of ice sheet dynamics, modelling is an inherently uncertain e...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:131225 2023-05-15T13:55:18+02:00 The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Phipps, S Halpin, J 2018 application/pdf http://ecite.utas.edu.au/131225 en eng Copernicus GmbH http://ecite.utas.edu.au/131225/1/EGU2018-11314.pdf Phipps, S and Halpin, J, The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, Geophysical Research Abstracts, 04-13 April 2018, Vienna, Austria, pp. 11314. ISSN 1607-7962 (2018) [Conference Extract] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/131225 Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Glaciology Conference Extract NonPeerReviewed 2018 ftunivtasecite 2019-12-13T22:29:08Z Ice sheet models are the only physically-based tools that allow us to simulate the future evolution of the AntarcticIce Sheet, including its contribution towards changes in global sea level. However, due to limitations in ourunderstanding of ice sheet dynamics, modelling is an inherently uncertain exercise. A typical approach towardsoptimising ice sheet models is to "tune" key physical parameters by finding the values that give the most realisticsimulations of the present-day ice sheet, based on criteria such as ice sheet geometry or ice velocity. However, thisapproach assumes that there are no errors in the boundary conditions being used to drive the models. Here, we use the Parallel Ice Sheet Model to explore the sensitivity of the simulated Antarctic Ice Sheet tothe available geothermal heat flux (GHF) datasets. We find that the choice of GHF is a significant source ofuncertainty, leading to basin-wide differences in excess of 1000m in the simulated ice thickness. Using differentGHF datasets to drive the model, we then "tune" it by determining the optimal values of key physical parameters.We show that the parameter combinations obtained are sensitive to the choice of GHF. Our results highlight the importance of GHF in ice sheet modelling. Reliable GHF estimates are critical tooptimising numerical models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and, therefore, to reducing uncertainty in projections offuture global sea level rise. Conference Object Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic The Antarctic |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Glaciology |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Glaciology Phipps, S Halpin, J The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Glaciology |
description |
Ice sheet models are the only physically-based tools that allow us to simulate the future evolution of the AntarcticIce Sheet, including its contribution towards changes in global sea level. However, due to limitations in ourunderstanding of ice sheet dynamics, modelling is an inherently uncertain exercise. A typical approach towardsoptimising ice sheet models is to "tune" key physical parameters by finding the values that give the most realisticsimulations of the present-day ice sheet, based on criteria such as ice sheet geometry or ice velocity. However, thisapproach assumes that there are no errors in the boundary conditions being used to drive the models. Here, we use the Parallel Ice Sheet Model to explore the sensitivity of the simulated Antarctic Ice Sheet tothe available geothermal heat flux (GHF) datasets. We find that the choice of GHF is a significant source ofuncertainty, leading to basin-wide differences in excess of 1000m in the simulated ice thickness. Using differentGHF datasets to drive the model, we then "tune" it by determining the optimal values of key physical parameters.We show that the parameter combinations obtained are sensitive to the choice of GHF. Our results highlight the importance of GHF in ice sheet modelling. Reliable GHF estimates are critical tooptimising numerical models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and, therefore, to reducing uncertainty in projections offuture global sea level rise. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Phipps, S Halpin, J |
author_facet |
Phipps, S Halpin, J |
author_sort |
Phipps, S |
title |
The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_short |
The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_full |
The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_fullStr |
The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet |
title_sort |
importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the antarctic ice sheet |
publisher |
Copernicus GmbH |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/131225 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/131225/1/EGU2018-11314.pdf Phipps, S and Halpin, J, The importance of geothermal heat flux in modelling of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, Geophysical Research Abstracts, 04-13 April 2018, Vienna, Austria, pp. 11314. ISSN 1607-7962 (2018) [Conference Extract] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/131225 |
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1766261698937749504 |