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Milankovitch solar radiation variations and ice age ice sheet sizes

Abstract

The fluctuations in the size of ice age ice sheets are calculated using glacier mechanics and the Milankovitch solar radiation variations. The calculations are greatly simplified by considering only two-dimensional ice sheets with profiles that would be appropriate if ice obeyed the flow law of a perfectly plastic solid. The solar radiation variations seem to be large enough to account for ice ages.

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Weertman, J. Milankovitch solar radiation variations and ice age ice sheet sizes. Nature 261, 17–20 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261017a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261017a0

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