Modeling dependence of moraine deposition on climate history: the effect of seasonality

A simple shallow-ice flowline glacier model coupled to a model of sediment transport and deposition is used to simulate formation and preservation of moraines. The number, positions, and volume of moraines formed all are sensitive to the climate history assumed. We drive the model with the GISP2 cen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary science reviews 2009-04, Vol.28 (7), p.639-646
Main Authors: Vacco, David A., Alley, Richard B., Pollard, David
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:A simple shallow-ice flowline glacier model coupled to a model of sediment transport and deposition is used to simulate formation and preservation of moraines. The number, positions, and volume of moraines formed all are sensitive to the climate history assumed. We drive the model with the GISP2 central-Greenland temperature record, and with reduced-millennial-amplitude versions of that record, to test the hypothesis that the Younger Dryas and other millennial oscillations were primarily wintertime events and thus had less influence on glacier behavior than did the Last Glacial Maximum with its strong summertime as well as wintertime signal. We find that forcing the model by GISP2, with dampened strength of the millennial-scale signal, provides modeled moraine configurations that reflect observed moraine records in the Northern Hemisphere.
ISSN:0277-3791
1873-457X
DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.04.018