Abstract
Northern Hemisphere summer insolation is regarded as a main control factor of glacial-interglacial cycles. However, internal feedbacks between ice sheets and other climate components are non-negligible. Here we apply a state-of-the-art Earth system model (AWI-ESM) asynchronously coupled to the ice sheet model PISM, focusing on the period when ice sheet grows from an intermediate state (Marine isotope stage 3, around 38 k) to a maximum ice sheet state (the Last Glacial Maximum). Our results show that initial North American ice sheet differences at 38 k are erased by feedbacks between atmospheric circulation and ice sheet geometry that modulate the ice sheet development during this period. Counter-intuitively, moisture transported from the North Atlantic warm pool during summer is the main controlling factor for the ice sheet advance. A self-adaptative mechanism is proposed in the development of a fully-grown NA ice sheet which indicates how the Earth system stabilizes itself via interactions between different Earth System components.
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