Understanding the response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to past and future climate transitions and its corresponding impact on sea level variations is the core objective of the Ice Sheet Dynamics group at the Climate and Environmental Physics division. In our group we explore the role and response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during major climate transitions and investigate the dynamic evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during glacial-interglacial cycles as well as in future climate scenarios.
Currently, ice sheet model studies are associated with considerable uncertainties preventing conclusive statements on e.g. whether the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed during past interglacials or how much Antarctica will contribute to future sea level rise on centennial to millennial time scales. Model results will remain speculative without being informed and constrained by observational geophysical data. However, the currently used pool of direct observations and proxy reconstructions of the present and past evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is not sufficient to constrain model physics and heuristics. Therefore, one of the main goals of the Ice Sheet Dynamics group is to develop a novel methodology to calibrate ice sheet models employing geophysical observations of the internal layering of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. This will reduce longstanding uncertainties associated with model-based estimates of past and future Antarctic Ice Sheet evolution and sea level contributions.
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