TY - JOUR

T1 - Simulating the impact of freshwater inputs and deep-draft icebergs formed during a MIS 6 Barents Ice Sheet collapse

AU - Green, C.L.

AU - Green, J.A.

AU - Bigg, G.R.

PY - 2011/6/1

Y1 - 2011/6/1

N2 - [1] An intermediate complexity climate model is used to simulate the collapse of the Barents Ice Sheet during Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6; 140 ka B.P) with the purpose of investigating whether a mass input of freshwater from the collapse could have affected the convection and deep water formation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Further experiments used a coupled dynamic and thermodynamic iceberg model to determine the effects of deep-draft icebergs, rather than freshwater alone, on the ocean circulation. The results predict that the collapse of the Barents Ice Sheet had a significant impact on the meridional overturning circulation in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Freshwater fluxes have more of an impact on the Atlantic overturning circulation during the actual release period compared to icebergs, but the bergs induce effects over longer time scales even after the pulse is removed. Freshwater fluxes of 0.15 sverdrup (Sv) and iceberg surges of 0.1 Sv trigger significant changes in the global patterns, particularly in the North Pacific where there is strengthening of the overturning circulation at the expense of that in the North Atlantic, and associated increases in Pacific sea surface temperatures. These results highlight the importance of simulating not only the correct flux but also the form of the freshwater input from ice sheet collapses appropriately.

AB - [1] An intermediate complexity climate model is used to simulate the collapse of the Barents Ice Sheet during Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6; 140 ka B.P) with the purpose of investigating whether a mass input of freshwater from the collapse could have affected the convection and deep water formation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Further experiments used a coupled dynamic and thermodynamic iceberg model to determine the effects of deep-draft icebergs, rather than freshwater alone, on the ocean circulation. The results predict that the collapse of the Barents Ice Sheet had a significant impact on the meridional overturning circulation in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Freshwater fluxes have more of an impact on the Atlantic overturning circulation during the actual release period compared to icebergs, but the bergs induce effects over longer time scales even after the pulse is removed. Freshwater fluxes of 0.15 sverdrup (Sv) and iceberg surges of 0.1 Sv trigger significant changes in the global patterns, particularly in the North Pacific where there is strengthening of the overturning circulation at the expense of that in the North Atlantic, and associated increases in Pacific sea surface temperatures. These results highlight the importance of simulating not only the correct flux but also the form of the freshwater input from ice sheet collapses appropriately.

U2 - 10.1029/2010PA002088

DO - 10.1029/2010PA002088

M3 - Article

VL - 26

JO - Paleoceanography

JF - Paleoceanography

SN - 1944-9186

IS - 2

ER -