The influence of continental ice sheets on the climate of an ice age.

Abstract

The climate influence of the land ice that existed at 18k yr BP is investigated by use of a general circulation model of the atmosphere coupled with a static mixed layer ocean. In the Northern Hemisphere the tropospheric flow field is strongly influenced by the Laurentide ice sheet and features a split flow straddling the ice sheet, with a strong jet stream forming the southern branch. The 18k yr BP ice sheets have very little influence upon atmospheric temperature and SST in the S Hemisphere. Hydrologic changes in the model climate are also found, with statistically significant decreases in soil moisture occurring in a zone located to the south of the ice sheets in N America and Eurasia. -from Authors