ICESHEET 1.0: a program to produce paleo-ice sheet reconstructions with minimal assumptions

Abstract

We describe a program that produces paleo-ice sheet reconstructions using an assumption of steady-state, perfectly plastic ice flow behaviour. It incorporates three input parameters: ice margin, basal shear stress and basal topography. Though it is unlikely that paleo-ice sheets were ever in complete steady-state conditions, this method can produce an ice sheet without relying on complicated and unconstrained parameters such as climate and ice dynamics. This makes it advantageous to use in glacial-isostatic adjustment ice sheet modelling, which are often used as input parameters in global climate modelling simulations. We test this program by applying it to the modern Greenland Ice Sheet and Last Glacial Maximum Barents Sea Ice Sheet and demonstrate the optimal parameters that balance computational time and accuracy.