Abstract
We present a two-dimensional climate model to be used for basic dynamic studies on ice-age time scales (103 to 106 years). The model contains an ice sheet, where flow and temperature are calculated in a vertical plane, oriented in the north-south direction. The model ice sheet is forced by a zonally-averaged atmospheric energy-balance model, including a seasonal cycle and a simplified hydrological cycle, which specifies ice temperature and the mass balance at the ice-sheet surface. At the bottom of the ice sheet, the geothermal heat flux is prescribed. In addition, delayed bedrock sinking (or bedrock rising) is assumed.A stationary state is achieved after 200 000 model years. This long time scale is introduced by the slow evolution of the temperature field within the ice sheet. Using reasonable parameter values and presently observed precipitation patterns, modified by ice-sheet orography, the observed thickness to length ratio (4 km/3300 km) of the Laurentide ice sheet can be simulated within a realistic build-up time (40 000 years). Near the ice bottom, temperate regions developed. They may have had an important effect on ice-sheet build-up and ice-sheet decay.
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