Abstract
The great continental ice sheets of the Pleistocene represented significant obstacles to the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude westerlies. They must therefore have forced large changes in the atmospheric circulation, and consequently also in the patterns of accumulation and melting over the ice sheets themselves. A simplified three-dimensional coupled ice sheet–stationary wave model is developed in order to understand the ice sheet’s response to the circulation changes that it induces. Consistent with ice age climate simulations, the ice sheet topography induces an anticyclonic circulation over the ice sheet, causing a slight warming over the western slopes and a stronger cooling over the remainder. The modeled feedbacks significantly affect the ice sheet configuration, with the most important influences being the patterns of summer temperature, and the topographically induced precipitation field. The time evolution of the ice sheet is also changed by the atmospheric feedbacks and the results suggest the possibility of multiple equilibrium solutions.
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
