Sensitivity of a Greenland ice sheet model to ice flow and ablation parameters: consequences for the evolution through the last climatic cycle |
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Authors: | C Ritz A Fabre A Letréguilly |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, CNRS and Université Joseph Fourier, BP 96, 38402 Saint Martin d-Hères Cedex, France, FR |
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Abstract: | Sensitivity experiments are conducted to test the influence of poorly known model parameters on the simulation of the Greenland
ice sheet by means of a three dimensional numerical model including the mechanical and thermal processes within the ice. Two
types of experiments are performed: steady-state climatic conditions and simulations over the last climatic cycle with a climatic
forcing derived from the GRIP record. The experiments show that the maximum altitude of the ice sheet depends on the ice flow
parameters (deformation and sliding law coefficients, geothermal flux) and that it is low when the ice flow is fast. On the
other hand, the maximum altitude is not sensitive to the ablation strength and consequently during the climatic cycle it is
driven by changes in accumulation rate. The ice sheet extension shows the opposite sensitivity: it is barely affected by ice
flow velocity and the ice covered area is smaller for large ablation coefficients. For colder climates, when there is no ablation,
the ice sheet extension depends on the sea level. An interesting result is that the variations with time of the altitude at
the ice divide (Summit) do not depend on the parameters we tested. The present modelled ice sheets resulting from the climatic
cycle experiments are compared with the present measured ice sheet in order to find the set of parameters that gives the best
fit between modelled and measured geometry. It seems that, compared to the parameter set most commonly used, higher ablation
rate coefficents must be used.
Received: 19 September 1995 / Accepted: 30 May 1996 |
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