Gregoire, LJ, Payne, AJ and Valdes, PJ (2012) Deglacial rapid sea level rises caused by ice-sheet saddle collapses. Nature, 487 (7406). 219 - 222. ISSN 0028-0836
Abstract
The last deglaciation (21 to 7 thousand years ago) was punctuated by several abrupt meltwater pulses, which sometimes caused noticeable climate change. Around 14 thousand years ago, meltwater pulse 1A (MWP-1A), the largest of these events, produced a sea level rise of 14-18 metres over 350 years. Although this enormous surge of water certainly originated from retreating ice sheets, there is no consensus on the geographical source or underlying physical mechanisms governing the rapid sea level rise. Here we present an ice-sheet modelling simulation in which the separation of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets in North America produces a meltwater pulse corresponding to MWP-1A. Another meltwater pulse is produced when the Labrador and Baffin ice domes around Hudson Bay separate, which could be associated with the /`8,200-year/' event, the most pronounced abrupt climate event of the past nine thousand years. For both modelled pulses, the saddle between the two ice domes becomes subject to surface melting because of a general surface lowering caused by climate warming. The melting then rapidly accelerates as the saddle between the two domes gets lower, producing nine metres of sea level rise over 500 years. This mechanism of an ice /`saddle collapse/' probably explains MWP-1A and the 8,200-year event and sheds light on the consequences of these events on climate.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2012, Nature Publishing Group. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Nature. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Climate science; Earth sciences; Geology; Geophysics |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Sep 2013 10:46 |
Last Modified: | 29 Mar 2018 17:06 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11257 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/nature11257 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:76493 |