Was the Greenland ice sheet thinner in the late Wisconsinan than now?

Abstract

Ice of Wisconsinan origin which constitutes the basal layers of the ice caps in arctic Canada and Greenland flows three to four times more readily than the Holocene ice above. A model based on simple ice sheet profile theory is set up for the thickness response of the interior ice sheet regions to the progressive thinning of this soft layer. The model is applied to calculate the thickness response of the Greenland ice sheet at the locations Dye 3 and Crête, and of the Devon Island ice cap in arctic Canada. It is concluded that the mechanism contributes significantly to the thickness change of the Greenland ice sheet, presently at a rate of about 1 cm yr⁻¹ and that this rate of change will persist potentially over thousands of years to come. As regards the Devon Island ice cap, most of the estimated 15% thickness increase has already been accomplished. A further consequence is that in the late Wisconsinan, ice thicknesses of the interior regions of the Greenland ice sheet were likely to have been no greater and possibly even less than at present, in spite of the larger geographical extent of the ice sheet. It is argued that the glacial-interglacial cycles of accumulation rate and ice temperature are likely to enhance this ice thickness variation.