LDEO Paleomagnetism

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) is shrinking today in response to the warming atmosphere and ocean. The GIS holds enough freshwater to raise sea level by 7.4 meters (24 feet) if it melted completely. Thus, understanding how it responds to warming is important. In this project we are investigating GIS vulnerability by studying how the GIS responded to climate warming in the past. At the end of the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago, the western GIS margin extended farther into Baffin Bay, hundreds of kilometers west of its present position.

The potential for future sea level rise from melting and collapse of Antarctic ice sheets and glaciers is concerning. We can improve our understanding of how water is exchanged between Antarctic ice sheets and the ocean by studying how ice sheets behaved in past climates, especially conditions that were similar to or warmer than those at present.