Air-Ice-Ocean Feedback Mechanisms and Ice Oscillation on Millennial Time Scales
Abstract
Air-ice-ocean feedback mechanisms, which are not conventionally incorporated within either climate or glacial models, are investigated to illustrate their potential role in generating ice advance/retreat on the time scale of 10(3) - 10(4) years; i.e. for examining the internal causes for the ice oscillation. Three main feedback loops are found from a coupled air-ice-ocean model developed in this paper; (a) ice advance - lower air temperature - ice freezing - ice advance; and (b) ice advance - higher ocean temperature - ice melting - ice retreat; (c) ice advance/retreat - modification of evaporation rate - change of ice accumulation rate and sea-level height - ice advance/retreat. The relative strength of the three feedback mechanisms determines the characteristics of the modes; growing or decaying, oscillatory or nonoscillatory. The solutions show the generation of growing oscillatory modes with the time scale of 10(3) - 10(4) years in certain parameter ranges.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA480185
Entities
People
- Peter Cheng Chu
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School