Paleo sea-level indicators and proxies from Greenland in the GAPSLIP database and comparison with modelled sea level from the PaleoMIST ice-sheet reconstruction

Abstract

One of the most common ways to assess ice-sheet reconstructions of the past is to evaluate how they impact changes in sea level through glacial isostatic adjustment. PaleoMIST 1.0, a preliminary reconstruction of topography and ice sheets during the past 80 000 years, was created without a rigorous comparison with past sea-level indicators and proxies in Greenland. The basal shear stress values for the Greenland ice sheet were deduced from the present day ice-sheet configuration, which were used for the entire 80 000 years without modification. The margin chronology was based on previous reconstructions and interpolation between them. As a result, it was not known if the Greenland component was representative of its ice-sheet history. In this study, I compile sea–level proxy data into the Global Archive of Paleo Sea Level Indicators and Proxies (GAPSLIP) database and use them to evaluate the PaleoMIST 1.0 reconstruction. The Last Glacial Maximum (c.20 000 years before present) contribution to sea level in PaleoMIST 1.0 is about 3.5 m, intermediate of other reconstructions of the Greenland ice sheet. The results of the data-model comparison show that PaleoMIST requires a larger pre-Holocene ice volume than it currently has to match the sea-level highstands observed around Greenland, especially in southern Greenland. Some of this mismatch is likely because of the crude 2500 year time step used in the margin reconstruction and the limited Last Glacial Maximum extent. Much of the mismatch can also be mitigated if different Earth model structures, particularly a thinner lithosphere, are assumed. Additional ice in Greenland would contribute to increasing the 3–5 m mismatch between the modelled far-field sea level at the Last Glacial Maximum and proxies in PaleoMIST 1.0.