On the interaction between ice sheets and the large-scale atmospheric circulation over the last glacial cycle

Abstract: The last glacial cycle (c. 115-12 kyr BP) was the most recent in a series of recurring glaciations of the subpolar continents. Massive ice sheets evolved in Eurasia and North America, which, at their maximum, were of continental scale and together lowered the global sea-level by approximately 100 m. The paleo-modelling community has focused on the last glacial maximum (LGM, ~ 20 kyr BP), leaving the longer period when the ice sheets evolved to their LGM configurations largely unexplored.In this thesis we study the mutual interaction between the time-mean atmospheric circulation and the evolution of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets over the build-up phase of the last glacial cycle. Experiments are conducted with coupled atmosphere-ice-sheet models and a circulation model forced by geologically consistent reconstructions of the ice-sheet topography at key stages of the glacial cycle.The main findings from these studies are that the ice evolution in North America may have been controlled by circulation anomalies induced by the background topography in conjunction with the ice sheets themselves. A geologically consistent pre-LGM ice sheet could only be obtained when including the North American Cordillera. However, the ice sheets' influence on the local climate conditions is also found to be paramount for this configuration. We further suggest that the incipient ice sheets may have had a limited influence on the large-scale winter circulation as a result of their location relative the westerly mean flow. The LGM Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) was, however, different because of its continent-wide extent, and it may therefore have had a large influence on the planetary-scale circulation, especially in the Atlantic sector. We find that the planetary waves forced by the LIS were considerably larger than at earlier times, and, as a result of a more frequent planetary wave reflection over the Atlantic Ocean basin, an altered stationary wave field and a zonalised winter jet.