Layer Tracing of the Greenland Ice Sheet Interior: A Coupled Model Approach

We are using an ice sheet model that explicitly represents individual layers of accumulation that are fixed in time (isochronal). With progressing time, new layers are added on the top, while older layers subside and become thinner as ice flows towards the margins. This approach eliminates unwanted diffusion and faithfully represents the englacial stratification.

The isochronal model is coupled uni-directionally to a full ice sheet model (“host model”), which provides the ice physics and dynamics. Via the isochronal model’s layer tracking, the host model’s output can be evaluated throughout the interior using the radiostratigraphy data set of the Greenland ice sheet.

We investigate the stability and resolution-dependence of this coupled modeling system in simulations of the last glacial cycle with yelmo as the host model. One key question concerns how frequent updates from the host model must be to ensure a reliable simulation. This could enable offline forcing of the isochronal model with output from a range of existing ice sheet models.

The long-term goal is to make the isochronal model flexible and easily adaptable enough to effectively force it with existing full ice sheet models and to provide it to the community as a new way to assess the models’ performance.