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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 36,
L24502,
5 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009GL040948
Surface-melt driven Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat during the early Holocene
Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Center for Climate System Research, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
To better understand mechanisms of ice-sheet decay, we investigate the surface mass balance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) during the early Holocene, a period of known rapid LIS retreat. We use a surface energy-mass balance model (EMBM) driven with conditions derived from an equilibrium atmosphere-ocean general circulation model 9 kilo-years ago simulation. Our EMBM indicates a net LIS surface mass balance of −0.67 ± 0.13 m yr−1, with losses primarily due to enhanced boreal summer insolation and warmer summers. This rate of loss compared to LIS volume reconstructions suggests that surface ablation accounted for 74 ± 22% of the LIS mass loss with the remaining loss likely driven by dynamics resulting in basal sliding and calving. Thus surface melting likely played a governing role in the retreat and disappearance of this ice sheet.
Received 21 September 2009; accepted 30 November 2009; published 30 December 2009.
Citation: (2009), Surface-melt driven Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat during the early Holocene, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L24502, doi:10.1029/2009GL040948.
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