Understanding the formation of tropical yellow to red earth (TYRE) is essential for preserving soil multi- functionality in well-drained tropical landscapes. Weathering and bioturbation mutually interact in TYRE evolution, whereas allochthonous materials appear restricted to distinct (paleo)landscapes. A layered appearance of TYRE can result from quasi-constant deposition of invertebrate mound debris, outcompeting diffusional mixing. Age-depth profiles from optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and charcoal radiocarbon ( 14 C char ) data of TYRE sites in different tropical landscapes, both from the literature and the present study, all reveal quasi- constant soil upbuilding, in accordance with our model. The rates of soil upbuilding are mostly in the range of 100-200 mm*ka-1,-1 , which conforms with published mounding rates of termites and ants. By comparison, geochemical transformation of rock to saprolite proceeds at rates at least one order of magnitude smaller. Termites mining saprolite, sometimes even below indurated subsoil, produce TYRE, thus linking the interconnected subsystems of differing process rates. The work of the bioengineers appears essential for transforming the deep-weathering products into well-structured TYRE. Future research may extend the provided database, the spatial scale, and the use of geochronology, coupled with paleoenvironmental proxies, in order to further enhance our understanding of tropical soil and landscape evolution, as one basis for advances in sustainable land use.
Three seasonally resolved ice core records covering the 20th century were extracted in 1994, 2004, and 2012 at a nearly identical location from the Col du Dôme (4250 m above sea level, m a.s.l.; Mont Blanc, French Alps) drill site. Here, we complete and combine chemical records of major ions and radiometric measurements of 3H and 210Pb obtained from these three cores with a 3D ice flow model of the Col du Dôme glacier to investigate in detail the origin of discontinuities observed in the depth–age relation of the ice cores drilled in 2004 and 2012. Taking advantage of the granitic bedrock at Col du Dôme, which makes the ice core 210Pb records sensitive to the presence of upstream crevasses, and the fact that the depth–age disturbances are observed at depths for which absolute time markers are available, we draw an overall picture of a dynamic crevasse formation. This can explain the non-disturbed depth–age relation of the ice core drilled in 1994 and the perturbations observed in those drilled in 2004 and 2012. Since crevasses are common at high-Alpine glacier sites, our study points to the important need for rigorous investigations of the depth–age scale and glaciological conditions upstream of drill sites before interpreting high-alpine ice core records in terms of atmospheric changes.
We introduce PARASO, a novel five-component fully coupled regional climate model over an Antarctic circumpolar domain covering the full Southern Ocean. The state-of-the-art models used are the fast Elementary Thermomechanical Ice Sheet model (f.ETISh) v1.7 (ice sheet), the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) v3.6 (ocean), the Louvain-la-Neuve sea-ice model (LIM) v3.6 (sea ice), the COnsortium for Small-scale MOdeling (COSMO) model v5.0 (atmosphere) and its CLimate Mode (CLM) v4.5 (land), which are here run at a horizontal resolution close to 1/4∘. One key feature of this tool resides in a novel two-way coupling interface for representing ocean–ice-sheet interactions, through explicitly resolved ice-shelf cavities. The impact of atmospheric processes on the Antarctic ice sheet is also conveyed through computed COSMO-CLM–f.ETISh surface mass exchange. In this technical paper, we briefly introduce each model's configuration and document the developments that were carried out in order to establish PARASO. The new offline-based NEMO–f.ETISh coupling interface is thoroughly described. Our developments also include a new surface tiling approach to combine open-ocean and sea-ice-covered cells within COSMO, which was required to make this model relevant in the context of coupled simulations in polar regions. We present results from a 2000–2001 coupled 2-year experiment. PARASO is numerically stable and fully operational. The 2-year simulation conducted without fine tuning of the model reproduced the main expected features, although remaining systematic biases provide perspectives for further adjustment and development.
Sub-shelf melting is one of the dominant drivers of Antarctica's ice sheet mass loss. Various sub-shelf melt rate parameterizations exist for standalone ice models, but they lack the capability to capture complex ocean circulation within ice shelf cavities. To overcome drawbacks of standalone models and to improve melt parameterizations, high resolution coupling of ice sheet and ocean models are capable of hindcasting past decennia and be compared to observations. Here, we present results of a hindcast (1985-2018) of the new circumpolar coupled Southern Ocean – Antarctic ice sheet configuration, developed within the framework of the PARAMOUR project. The configuration is based on the ocean and sea ice model NEMO3.6-LIM3 and the ice sheet model f.ETISh v1.7. The coupling routine facilitates exchange of monthly sub-shelf melt rates (from ocean to ice model) and evolving ice shelf cavity geometry (from ice to ocean model). For a selection of warm and cold cavities, we investigate the impact of the coupling frequency (more precisely, the frequency of updating the ice shelf cavity geometry within the ocean model) and the coupling itself on the sub-shelf melt rates and its feedback on the ice dynamics. We further compare the sub-shelf melt rates and the response of the ice sheet with observations and other studies.
How well is the Antarctic climate over the last decades represented in climate models and how predictable is its future evolution? These questions delve into the specificities of the Antarctic climate, a system characterized by large natural fluctuations and complex interactions between the ice sheet, ocean, sea ice and atmosphere. The PARAMOUR project aims at improving our understanding of key processes which control the variability and predictability of the Antarctic climate at the decadal timescale. In this context, we introduce PARASO, a novel fully-coupled regional ocean - sea-ice - ice-sheet - atmosphere climate model over an Antarctic circumpolar domain covering the full Southern Ocean. The state-of-the-art models used are f.ETISh1.7 (ice sheet), NEMO3.6 (ocean), LIM3.6 (sea ice), COSMO5.0 (atmosphere) and CLM4.5 (land), which are run at a horizontal resolution close to 1/4°. One key feature of this tool resides in a novel two-way coupling interface for representing the ocean - ice-sheet interactions, through explicitly resolved ice-shelf cavities. We also consider the impact of atmospheric processes on the Antarctic ice sheet through surface mass exchanges between COSMO-CLM and f.ETISh. Our developments include a new surface tiling approach to combine open-ocean and sea-ice covered cells within COSMO. Using a 30 year-long run, we investigate the model performance and the interannual-to-decadal variability of the simulated Antarctic climate. The focus is on the interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and ice components at the regional scale and the links with larger spatial scales. Specific attention is paid to the mass balance of ice sheets and ice shelves, which influences both the ice sheet dynamics and the changes in the ocean and atmosphere. The system and its performance will be documented in this presentation together with some aspects of decadal variability from a 30-year integration forced with reanalyses (ERA5 and ORAS5). Early results of a 3-member retrospective forecast driven by EC-Earth will also be presented.
Abstract. The µDose-system is a recently developed analytical instrument applying a combined α- and β-sensitive scintillation technique for determining the radioactivity arising from the decay chains of 235U, 238U and 232Th as well as from the decay of 40K. The device was designed to meet the particular requirements of trapped charge dating methods and allows the assessment of environmental (i.e. low) levels of natural radionuclides. The µDose-system was developed as a low-cost laboratory equipment, but a systematic test of its performance is still pending. For the first time, we present results from a comprehensive performance test based on an inter-laboratory comparison. We compare the results gained with µDose-measurements with those from thick source alpha counting (TSAC), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and low-level high-resolution gamma spectrometry (HRGS) applied in five participating laboratories. In addition, the reproducibility and accuracy of µDose-measurements were tested on certified reference materials distributed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA; RGU-1, RGTh-1 and RGK-1) and on two loess standards (Nussy and Volkegem) frequently used in trapped charge dating studies. We compare µDose-based results for a total of 47 sediment samples with results previously obtained for these materials by well-established methods of dose rate determination. The investigated natural samples cover a great variety of environments, including fluvial, aeolian, littoral, colluvial and (geo-)archaeological sites originating from high- and low-mountain regions as well as from lowlands in tropical areas, drylands and mid-latitude zones of Europe, Africa, Australia, Central Asia and the Americas. Our results suggest the µDose-system’s capability of assessing low-level radionuclide contents with very good accuracy and precision comparable to well-established dosimetry methods. Based on the results of our comparative study and with respect to the practical experiences gained so far, the µDose-system appears to be a promising tool for trapped charge dating studies.
Ice mass loss of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is a major contributor to sea level change with an expected major impact on the world's infrastructures over the next decades. Therefore, precise estimates of sea level change are needed. However, estimates of future changes in sea level are either provided by earth system models, which rarely include ice sheet models, or by standalone ice sheet models. Hence, feedbacks between ice and atmosphere-ocean are overseen. Local scale coupled models help bridging this gap by estimating how feedbacks between the different earth systems affect global sea level estimates. Here, we present results from a coupled simulation of the ocean-sea ice model NEMO3.6-LIM3 (1/24° grid ~ less than 2 km grid spacing) and the ice sheet model BISICLES (on 0.5 - 4km spatial resolution). The coupling routine is done via python code including variable exchange, pre- and post-processing, done offline every 3 months. Simulated ice mass changes, grounding line position and ice velocity changes of this high-resolution coupling scheme (between 1993-2014) are compared to observations and results of uncoupled simulations. We further discuss which processes might be neglectable and which are the main drivers of ice velocity acceleration and changes in sub-shelf ocean circulation.
The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) lies on a solid Earth that displays large spatial variations in rheological properties, with a thin lithosphere and low‐viscosity upper mantle (weak Earth structure) beneath West Antarctica and an opposing structure beneath East Antarctica. This contrast is known to have a significant impact on the ice‐sheet grounding‐line stability. Here, we embed within an ice‐sheet model a modified glacial‐isostatic Elastic Lithosphere‐Relaxing Asthenosphere model that considers a dual pattern for the Earth structure beneath West and East Antarctica supplemented with an approximation of gravitationally consistent geoid changes, allowing to approximate near‐field relative sea‐level changes. We show that this elementary GIA model captures the essence of global Self‐Gravitating Viscoelastic solid‐Earth Models (SGVEMs) and compares well with both SGVEM outputs and geodetic observations, allowing to capture the essential features and processes influencing Antarctic grounding‐line stability in a computationally efficient way. In this framework, we perform a probabilistic assessment of the impact of uncertainties in solid‐Earth rheological properties on the response of the AIS to future warming. Results show that on multicentennial‐to‐millennial timescales, spatial variability in solid‐Earth deformation plays a significant role in promoting the stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS). However, WAIS collapse cannot be prevented under high‐emissions climate scenarios. On longer timescales and for unmitigated climate scenarios, continent‐wide mass loss projections may be underestimated because spatially uniform Earth models, as typically considered in numerical ice sheet models, will overestimate the stabilizing effect of GIA across East Antarctica, which is characterized by thick lithosphere and high upper‐mantle viscosity.
From at least 1979 up until 2016, the surface of the Southern Ocean cooled down, leading to a small Antarctic sea ice extent increase, which is in stark contrast with the Arctic Ocean. The attribution of the origin of these robust observations is still very uncertain. Among other phenomena, the direct, two-way interactions between the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic ice sheet, through basal melting of its numerous and large ice-shelf cavities, have been suggested as a potentially important contributor of this cooling. In order to address this question, we perform multidecadal coupled ice sheet – ocean numerical simulations relying on f.ETISh-v1.7 and NEMO3.6-LIM3 for simulating the Antarctic ice sheet and Southern Ocean (including sea ice), respectively. This presentation is twofold. First, we present the technical aspects of the coupling infrastructure (e.g. workflow and exchanged information in between models). Second, we investigate the ice sheet – ocean feedbacks on the Southern Ocean, their interactions, and the roles of the related physical mechanisms on the ocean surface cooling.
Input data for running the PARASO experiments. These files should be extracted, and the folder containing them should be referred to in the `data.cfg` Coral configuration file. See also PARASO documentation from the PARASO sources. The ERA5 forcings (COSMO boundary files and NEMO surface forcings) are not provided herein as they are too large, but we provide: - scripts for downloading and post-processing the ERA5 NEMO forcings; - INT2LM configuration file, with the new Antarctic geometry, to generate COSMO lateral forcings. A 3-month sample of ERA5 data is also available (see Forcings below). Model description: Pelletier, C., Fichefet, T., Goosse, H., Haubner, K., Helsen, S., Huot, P.-V., Kittel, C., Klein, F., Le clec'h, S., van Lipzig, N. P. M., Marchi, S., Massonnet, F., Mathiot, P., Moravveji, E., Moreno-Chamarro, E., Ortega, P., Pattyn, F., Souverijns, N., Van Achter, G., Vanden Broucke, S., Vanhulle, A., Verfaillie, D., and Zipf, L.: PARASO, a circum-Antarctic fully coupled ice-sheet–ocean–sea-ice–atmosphere–land model involving f.ETISh1.7, NEMO3.6, LIM3.6, COSMO5.0 and CLM4.5, Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 553–594, 10.5194/gmd-15-553-2022, 2022. Source code (no COSMO): Pelletier, Charles, Klein, François, Zipf, Lars, Haubner, Konstanze, Mathiot, Pierre, Pattyn, Frank, Moravveji, Ehsan, & Vanden Broucke, Sam. (2021). PARASO source code (no COSMO) (v1.4.3). Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.5576201 Forcings: Pelletier, Charles, & Helsen, Samuel. (2021). PARASO ERA5 forcings (1.4.3) [Data set]. Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.5590053Acknowledgements ORAS5: Zuo, H, Alonso-Balmaseda, M, Mogensen, K, Tietsche, S: OCEAN5: The ECMWF Ocean Reanalysis System and its Real-Time analysis component. 2018. 10.21957/la2v0442 downloaded from the ICDC (University of Hamburg) on 01-SEP-2019. (The results contain modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2020. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.) BedMachine: Morlighem, M. 2020. MEaSUREs BedMachine Antarctica, Version 2. Ice-shelf Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. doi: 10.5067/E1QL9HFQ7A8M. Accessed 01-DEC-2019. Morlighem, M., E. Rignot, T. Binder, D. D. Blankenship, R. Drews, G. Eagles, O. Eisen, F. Ferraccioli, R. Forsberg, P. Fretwell, V. Goel, J. S. Greenbaum, H. Gudmundsson, J. Guo, V. Helm, C. Hofstede, I. Howat, A. Humbert, W. Jokat, N. B. Karlsson, W. Lee, K. Matsuoka, R. Millan, J. Mouginot, J. Paden, F. Pattyn, J. L. Roberts, S. Rosier, A. Ruppel, H. Seroussi, E. C. Smith, D. Steinhage, B. Sun, M. R. van den Broeke, T. van Ommen, M. van Wessem, and D. A. Young. 2020. Deep glacial troughs and stabilizing ridges unveiled beneath the margins of the Antarctic ice sheet, Nature Geoscience. 13. 132-137. 10.1038/s41561-019-0510-8 Iceberg forcings: Jourdain, Nicolas C., Merino, Nacho, Le Sommer, Julien, Durand, Gaël, & Mathiot, Pierre. (2019). Interannual iceberg meltwater fluxes over the Southern Ocean (1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.3514728 Merino N., Jourdain, N. C., Le Sommer, J., Goose, H., Mathiot, P. and Durand, G (2018). Impact of increasing Antarctic glacial freshwater release on regional sea-ice cover in the Southern Ocean. Ocean Modelling, 121, 76-89. 10.1016/j.ocemod.2017.11.009
Loess-palaeosol sequences are most important archives for reconstructing terrestrial palaeoenvironments. However, in the European Mediterranean, these archives are surprisingly scarcely investigated. In southern France, respective sediment-soil archives were last investigated in more detail in the middle of the last century, when major construction works in the region provided access to numerous loess exposures. However, this was before the breakthrough of luminescence-dating as a major chronometric method for the Later Pleistocene. Thus, the loess was poorly dated. Later, Mediterranean loess archives attracted fewer researchers than their central-European counterparts. Reasons for this may be that, compared to the loess belt of temperate Europe, Mediterranean loess deposits are often reworked and mixed with slope deposits. Moreover, palaeosols that developed during climate ameliorations of the last glacial period seem to reflect less pronounced temperature and humidity shifts than those in temperate regions. The most prominent palaeosol developed within the last-glacial loess in the Rhône Valley is a brown palaeosol with large carbonate concretions at its base. However, it is usually severely truncated. We allocated joint research efforts from groups in Germany and France to track last-glacial sedimentation and climate shifts in loess-palaeosol sections along the Rhône Valley, south of the confluence of the River Saone at Lyon. Thereby, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating serves as a vital tool for establishing chronometries for the loess-palaeosol sections in southern France, with first results from the Rhône Valley in Bosq et al. (2018, 2020). We summarize results from two sites that are regarded as key sections for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction along the Rhône Valley as evaluated from inspections during fieldwork, complemented by several smaller sections. Our presentation focusses on challenges met with OSL dating attempts of these Mediterranean archives and first achievements in backing the stratigraphies established by sediment-soil analyses in the field and laboratory by chronometric data. References Bosq, M., Bertran, P., Degeai, J.-P., Kreutzer, S., Queffelec, A., Moine, O., Morin, E., 2018. Last Glacial aeolian landforms and deposits in the Rhône Valley (SE France): Spatial distribution and grain-size characterization. Geomorphology 318, 1–20. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.06.010 Bosq, M., Kreutzer, S., Bertran, P., Degeai, J.-P., Dugas, P., Kadereit, A., Lanos, P., Moine, O., Pfaffner, N., Queffelec, A., Sauer, D., 2020. Chronostratigraphy of two Late Pleistocene loess-palaeosol sequences in the Rhône Valley (southeast France). Quaternary Science Reviews 245, 106473. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106473
From 2016 on, observed tendencies of Southern Ocean sea surface temperatures and Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) have shifted from cooling down (with SIE increase) to warming up (SIE decrease). This change of Southern Ocean surface thermal properties has been sustained since, which indicates that it is not solely due to the interannual variability of the atmosphere, but also to modifications in the ocean itself. Among other physical phenomena, the acceleration of continental ice shelf melt, through its subsequent impact on the Southern Ocean stratification, has been proposed as one of the potential meaningful drivers of the sea ice changes. Reciprocally, recent studies suggest that besides atmosphere forcings, the upper ocean thermal content bears significant impact on ice shelf melt rates and dynamics. Here we present a new circumpolar coupled Southern Ocean – Antarctic ice sheet configuration aiming at investigating the impact of this ocean – continental ice feedback, developed within the framework of the PARAMOUR project. Our setting relies on the ocean and sea ice model NEMO3.6-LIM3 sending ice shelf melt rates to the Antarctic ice sheet model f.ETISh v1.5, who in turn responds to it and provides updated ice shelf cavity geometry. Both technical aspects and first coupled results are presented.
Totten glacier is draining 68% of the Aurora basin, East Antarctica, - an equivalent to 3.5m global sea level rise. Further, Totten’s thickness and velocity have been fluctuating during the last decades showing periodic speed-ups and thinning. We investigate the effect of different ocean forcing on Totten glacier using the state-of-the-art ice sheet model BISICLES and based on the high-resolution data sets BedMachine Antarctica and REMA (Morlighem et al., 2019; Howat et al., 2019). Our simulations (2015-2100) are following the ISMIP6 setup and are based on CMIP5 & CMIP6 AOGCM outputs under RCP8.5 and RCP2.6. The contribution to sea level at 2100 varies between plus and minus 6mm. For all scenarios, we see thinning at the sides of Totten glacier in the slower flowing areas, but only climate models with sub-shelf melt rates that are at least 8m/a above the reference melt rates (1995 – 2017) lead to thinning and acceleration across Totten's grounding line. In agreement with ISMIP6 results, non-local quadratic melt rates adjusted to present day conditions at Pine island glacier, West Antarctica, results in the highest sub-shelf melt rates for all AOGCMs (up to 80m/a locally). The ISMIP6 ocean melt scheme is based on a feedback given the simulated ice draft change: the thermal forcing of the ocean model is taken from the ocean layer closest to the bottom of the ice shelf at the current simulation step. Simulations not including this feedback lead to higher mass loss than the standard ISMIP6 scenario including the feedback.
Sub-shelf melting is the main driver of Antarctica's ice sheet mass loss. However, sub-shelf melt rate parameterizations for standalone ice models lack the capability to capture complex ocean circulation within ice shelf cavities. To overcome drawbacks of standalone models and to improve melt parameterizations, high resolution coupling of ice sheet and ocean models are capable of hindcasting past decennia and be compared to observations. Here, we present first results of a hindcast (1985-2018) of the new circumpolar coupled Southern Ocean – Antarctic ice sheet configuration, developed within the framework of the PARAMOUR project. The configuration is based on the ocean and sea ice model NEMO3.6-LIM3 and the ice sheet model f.ETISh v1.7. The coupling routine facilitates exchange of monthly sub-shelf melt rates (from ocean to ice model) and evolving ice shelf cavity geometry (from ice to ocean model). We investigate the impact of the coupling frequency (more precisely, the frequency of updating the ice shelf cavity geometry within the ocean model) on the sub-shelf melt rates and its feedback on the ice dynamics. We further compare the sub-shelf melt rates of the coupled setup to those of the standalone ice sheet model with different sub-shelf melt rate parametrizations (ISMIP6, plume, PICO, PICOP) and investigate the sensitivity of the response of the ice sheet for the different basal melt rate patterns on decadal time scales.
Due to the lack of direct observations, subglacial hydrology is still marginally considered in Antarctic ice sheet modelling studies, albeit that several approaches exist (e.g., LeBrocq, Bueler and Van Pelt). Subglacial hydrology impacts basal friction through a reduction in effective pressure and through changing properties of subglacial sediments, both factors influencing the lubrication at the bottom of the ice sheet. Several approaches exist to represent subglacial hydrology in ice sheet models (Bueler and Brown, 2009, Goeller et al., 2013) and are generally coupled to either a Coulomb or a Weertman friction law. However, the type of subglacial process determines to a large extent the sensitivity of Antarctic mass change (Sun et al, submitted). In this study we investigate the sensitivity of subglacial dynamics on the behaviour of the Antarctic ice sheet on centennial time scales. For this purpose we employ a subglacial hydrology model for subglacial water routing (Lebrocq et al., 2009) coupled to a thermomechanical ice-sheet model (f.ETISh; Pattyn, 2017). We consider different parametrizations and representations of effective pressure and till water content at the base. We also consider the combination of different friction laws and hydrological models (sheet flow, till deformation) depending on estimates of the subglacial conditions of the Antarctic ice sheet. Results show that the way of coupling subglacial hydrology influences the sensitivity of the ice-sheet system on centennial time scales. However, the type and power of the friction law (Coulomb versus Weertman) has the most dominant impact on ice sheet sensitivity.
Antarctica is loosing mass in an accelerating way and these losses are considered as the major source of sea-level rise in the coming centuries. Ice-sheet mass loss is mainly triggered by the decreased buttressing from ice shelves mainly due to ice-ocean interaction. This loss could be self-sustained in potentially unstable regions where the grounded ice lies on a bedrock below sea level sloping down towards the interior of the ice sheet, leading to the so-called marine ice sheet instability (MISI). Recent observations on accelerated grounding-line retreat and insights in modelling the West Antarctica ice sheet give evidence that MISI is already on its way. Moreover, similar topographic configurations are also observed in East Antarctica, particularly in Wilkes Land. We present an ensemble of simulations of the Antarctic ice sheet using the f.ETISh ice-sheet model to evaluate tipping points that trigger MISI by forcing the model with sub-shelf melt pulses of varying amplitude and duration. As uncertainties in ice-sheet models limit the ability to provide precise sea-level rise projections, we implement probabilistic methods to investigate the influence of several sources of uncertainty, such as basal conditions. From the uncertainty analysis, we identify confidence regions for grounded ice interpreted as regions of the Antarctic ice sheet that remain ice-covered for a given level of probability. Finally, we discuss for each Antarctic basin the total melt energy needed to reach tipping points leading to sustained MISI.