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Science Rendezvous > Posters
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Model Simulations of the 8.2 ka event: Effects of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and ice melt runoff
Amy Wagner(1), Carrie Morrill(1), Bette Otto-Bliesner(2), and Nan Rosenbloom(2)
(1)CIRES/Univeristy of Colorado and NOAA National Climatic Data Center, Boulder, CO
(2)Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO
Since the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation plays an important role in determining the climate of the North Atlantic it is essential to understand the models predicted response to changes in the MOC. The hypothesized cause of the 8.2 ka event is drainage of freshwater from Lake Agassiz into Hudson Bay.
Using the NCAR CCSM 3.0 model, we have run experiments to determine how adding the Laurentide Ice sheet and ice melt runoff down the St. Lawrence River to the 8.5 ka climate influences the background climate state prior to the drainage of Lake Agassiz into the Hudson Bay.
The 8.2 ka event has been previously targeted for model-data comparison (i.e. Alley, 2003; Schmidt and LeGrande, 2005). The climate system at 8.2 ka was quite similar to that of today with a few exceptions including lower greenhouse gas concentrations and increased seasonality of insolation due to orbital forcing. The concentration of sea ice and the location of deep-water formation in the North Atlantic were similar to present-day and, therefore, the climate system response to freshwater forcing at 8.2 ka is relevant to future climate change.
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