A Marine Ice Sheet Model for Coupled Ice Sheet Climate Studies

海洋冰盖主要位于海平面以下，因此不仅受到大气的直接影响，而且还受到海平面和海洋温度、环流和盐度的影响。西南极冰盖是南极冰盖的一部分，是今天唯一真正的海洋冰盖。大气中微量气体水平的上升可能会导致气候变暖，进而可能引发冰川冰量的变化和海平面的上升。西南极冰盖可能对这样的海平面上升不稳定。需要对冰盖-气候模型进行耦合研究，以深入了解南极冰盖对痕量气体水平上升的瞬时反应，并将有助于制定管理海平面可能上升的大规模后果的指导方针。长期目标是开发一个三维的南极冰盖-气候模型。该项目的第一阶段包括海洋冰盖动力学的二维模拟研究和冰盖-大气模式耦合方法的并行研究。这项研究将开发一种高分辨率、热力学、二维有限元海洋冰盖-冰架模型，用于对西南极冰盖行为中潜在重要的各种物理过程的敏感性研究。这些建模研究将有助于确定开发南极三维冰盖模型的优先事项。

Marine ice sheets are largely based below sea level and are therefore influenced directly not only by the atmosphere, but also by sea level and ocean temperature, circulation and salinity. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is part of the south polar Antarctic Ice Sheet, is today's only truly marine ice sheet. Rising levels of trace gases in the atmosphere may cause a climatic warming which in turn may initiate a change in glacial ice volume and a rise in sea level. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be unstable to such a sea level rise. Coupled ice sheet- climate modeling studies are needed to gain insight into the transient response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to rising trace gas levels, and will help set guidelines for managing the large scale consequences of a potential rise in sea level. The long term goal is to develop a three-dimensional Antarctic Ice Sheet-climate model. The first stage of this project consists of a two-dimensional modeling study of marine ice sheet dynamics and of a parallel study of ice sheet-atmosphere model coupling methods. This investigation will develop a high resolution, thermomechanical, two-dimensional finite-element marine ice sheet- ice shelf model to be used in a sensitivity study to a variety of physical processes of potential importance in West Antarctic Ice Sheet behavior. These modeling studies will help set priorities for the development of a three-dimensional Antarctic Ice Sheet model.