Simulating the evolution of Hardangerjøkulen ice cap in southern Norway since the mid-Holocene and its sensitivity to climate change

Åkesson, Henning; Nisancioglu, Kerim H.; Giesen, Rianne H.; Morlighem, Mathieu

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-281-2017

Articles | Volume 11, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-281-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-281-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 11, issue 1

Research article

|

27 Jan 2017

Research article |

| 27 Jan 2017

Simulating the evolution of Hardangerjøkulen ice cap in southern Norway since the mid-Holocene and its sensitivity to climate change

Henning Åkesson, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Rianne H. Giesen, and Mathieu Morlighem

Data sets

Continental scale, high order, high spatial resolution, ice sheet modeling using the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) E. Larour, H. Seroussi, M. Morlighem, and E. Rignot https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002140

Outlet glacier length changes Norwegian Water and Energy Directorate; CryoClim http://glacier.nve.no/viewer/CI/en/cc/

Surface mass balance Norwegian Water and Energy Directorate; CryoClim http://glacier.nve.no/viewer/CI/en/cc/

Short summary

We present simulations of the history of Hardangerjøkulen ice cap in southern Norway using a dynamical ice sheet model. From mid-Holocene ice-free conditions 4000 years ago, Hardangerjøkulen grows nonlinearly in response to a linear climate forcing, reaching maximum extent during the Little Ice Age (~ 1750 AD). The ice cap exhibits spatially asymmetric growth and retreat and is highly sensitive to climate change. Our results call for reassessment of glacier reconstructions from proxy records.