Self-consistent ice-sheet properties: ice dynamics, temperature, accumulation, delta-age and chronologies for ice cores and radar isochrones

Ice sheet behavior has not previously been modeled to force self-consistency, to determine histories of accumulation, temperature, and ice dynamics that incorporate the ice-age/gas-age offset (delta-age) and sparse depth-age measurements from ice cores. An iterative scheme is used to combine several modular components into one self-consistent model. The goal is to determine a suite of histories constrained by the depth-age data from ice cores and ice radar that are part of a physically self-consistent ice sheet. The model is tested using a synthetic data set resembling WAIS divide. Using synthetic data provides proof of concept that histories of accumulation, temperature and ice dynamics can be recovered by the self-consistent model, and that the depth-age from ice cores and ice radar can be matched. Results from synthetic data show we can recover the ice-sheet properties used to generate the data and we can improve the depth-age chronologies by interpolating with an ice-flow model where data are sparse. When this self-consistent model can be applied to field data, results will (1) improve chronologies for ice cores and radar layers, (2) determine histories of accumulation for GCM modelling, and (3) improve estimates of past ice sheet configurations, incorporating data from ice cores and ice radar.