Palaeoglaciological advances to understand Earth’s ice sheets by landform analysis

Project Details

Description

Ice sheets regulate Earth’s climate by reflecting sunlight away, enabling suitable temperatures for human habitation. Warming is reducing these ice masses and raising sea level. Glaciologists predict ice loss using computational ice sheet models which interact with climate and oceans, but with caveats that highlight processes are inadequately encapsulated. Weather forecasting made a leap in skill by comparing modelled forecasts with actual outcomes to improve physical realism of their models. This project sets out an ambitious programme to adopt this data-modelling approach in ice sheet modelling. Given their longer timescales (100-1000s years) we will use geological and geomorphological records of former ice sheets to provide the evidence; the rapidly growing field of palaeoglaciology.

By focussing on the most numerous and spatially-extensive records of palaeo ice sheet activity - glacial landforms - this project aims to revolutionise understanding of past and future ice sheets. Our team will vastly increase the available record for tuning or validating ice sheet models, develop new tools for gathering landform and geochronological information, and establish procedures for integrating these into ice sheet modelling experiments.
AcronymPALGLAC
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/10/1930/09/24

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