Continental Ice Sheets: Conditions for Growth
1975; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 190; Issue: 4218 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1126/science.190.4218.979
ISSN1095-9203
AutoresRoger G. Barry, John T. Andrews, Mary A. Mahaffy,
Tópico(s)Climate change and permafrost
ResumoThe conditions required for the development of major ice sheets in eastern Canada appear to have been approximated by those of the Little Ice Age in the 17th through the 19th centuries. Former extensive snowbanks from this period have been mapped from lichen-free terrain visible on Earth Resources Technology Satellite imagery. The climatic changes required to initiate the necessary snow line lowering may involve only a minor summer cooling. Simulations with an ice-flow model reproduce plausible ice centers. but the rate of ice sheet buildup is slower than that suggested by geological evidence of world sea level lowering from 120,000 to 115,000 years before the present.
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