The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling
The growth and retreat of continental ice sheets in the past has largely been a response to changing climatic forcing. Since ablation is the principal component of mass loss for land-based ice sheets, the calculation of surface melt is an important aspect of paleo ice sheet modeling. Changes in inso...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2014-08-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1419/2014/tc-8-1419-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819230082886008832 |
|---|---|
| author | A. Robinson H. Goelzer |
| author_facet | A. Robinson H. Goelzer |
| author_sort | A. Robinson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The growth and retreat of continental ice sheets in the past has largely been
a response to changing climatic forcing. Since ablation is the principal
component of mass loss for land-based ice sheets, the calculation of surface
melt is an important aspect of paleo ice sheet modeling. Changes in
insolation are often not accounted for in calculations of surface melt, under
the assumption that the near-surface temperature transmits the majority of
the climatic forcing to the ice sheet. To assess how this could affect paleo
simulations, here we investigate the importance of different orbital
configurations for estimating melt on the Greenland ice sheet. We find that
during peak Eemian conditions, increased insolation contributes 20–50% to
the surface melt anomaly. However, this percentage depends strongly on the
temperature anomaly at the time. For higher temperature anomalies, the role
of insolation changes is less important. This relationship is not homogenous
over the ice sheet, since the contribution of insolation to melt is modulated
by the local surface albedo. In coupled simulations, the additional
insolation-induced melt translates into up to threefold more ice volume loss,
compared to output using a model that does not account for insolation
changes. We also introduce a simple correction factor that allows reduced-complexity
melt models to account for changes in insolation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:23:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-18bc9b1419944411bc9026958ca6b77c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:23:25Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Cryosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-18bc9b1419944411bc9026958ca6b77c2022-12-21T17:49:00ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe Cryosphere1994-04161994-04242014-08-01841419142810.5194/tc-8-1419-2014The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modelingA. Robinson0H. Goelzer1Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, SpainEarth System Sciences & Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, BelgiumThe growth and retreat of continental ice sheets in the past has largely been a response to changing climatic forcing. Since ablation is the principal component of mass loss for land-based ice sheets, the calculation of surface melt is an important aspect of paleo ice sheet modeling. Changes in insolation are often not accounted for in calculations of surface melt, under the assumption that the near-surface temperature transmits the majority of the climatic forcing to the ice sheet. To assess how this could affect paleo simulations, here we investigate the importance of different orbital configurations for estimating melt on the Greenland ice sheet. We find that during peak Eemian conditions, increased insolation contributes 20–50% to the surface melt anomaly. However, this percentage depends strongly on the temperature anomaly at the time. For higher temperature anomalies, the role of insolation changes is less important. This relationship is not homogenous over the ice sheet, since the contribution of insolation to melt is modulated by the local surface albedo. In coupled simulations, the additional insolation-induced melt translates into up to threefold more ice volume loss, compared to output using a model that does not account for insolation changes. We also introduce a simple correction factor that allows reduced-complexity melt models to account for changes in insolation.http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1419/2014/tc-8-1419-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. Robinson H. Goelzer The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling The Cryosphere |
| title | The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling |
| title_full | The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling |
| title_fullStr | The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling |
| title_full_unstemmed | The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling |
| title_short | The importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling |
| title_sort | importance of insolation changes for paleo ice sheet modeling |
| url | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/8/1419/2014/tc-8-1419-2014.pdf |
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