Modelling of Last Glacial Maximum ice sheets using different accumulation parameterizations

We use a three-dimensional thermomechanical ice-sheet model, previously tested on the Greenland ice sheet, to reconstruct Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice sheets. We compare the effects on the results of the ice-sheet model of three different accumulation parameterization schemes. In the first and second schemes, LGM precipitation is computed from the present precipitation, taking and not taking into account moisture transport. In the third scheme, LGM precipitation and surface temperatures are computed using outputs of an atmospheric global circulation model (AGCM), treated in anomaly mode. Results are compared to the last reconstruction of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets (Peltier, 1994), computed using global rebound rates in a visco-elastic model of the Earth's crust. The first two accumulation parameterizations do not give satisfactory reconstructions of the LGM ice sheets, since they are unable to compute realistic LGM climatic conditions. The third method gives very satisfactory results, which leads us to conclude that the best way to obtain realistic LGM climatic conditions is to use AGCM outputs.