Dynamic simulations of the north-polar cap of Mars. II. Transient scenarios over climatic cycles

Details Dynamic simulations of the north-polar cap of Mars. II. Transient scenarios over climatic cycles Dynamic simulations of the north-polar cap of Mars. II. Transient scenarios over climatic cycles

Apr 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003eaeja.....2273g&link_type=abstract

EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 - 11 April 2003, abstract #2273

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Celestial-mechanical computations show that, in a similar fashion like for Earth, Mars is subject to Milanković cycles, that is, quasi-periodic variations of the orbital parameters obliquity, eccentricity and precession. Consequently, solar insolation varies on time-scales of 10^4--10^5 years. It has long been supposed that this entails climatic cycles like the terrestrial glacial-interglacial cycles, which is supported by the light-dark layered deposits of the north- and south-polar caps indicating a strongly varying dust content of the ice due to varying climate conditions in the past. Here, we will simulate the dynamic and thermodynamic evolution of the north-polar cap of Mars over the last five million years with the ice-sheet model SICOPOLIS. The boundary conditions of surface accumulation, ablation and temperature are derived directly from the solar-insolation history by applying the newly developed Mars Atmosphere-Ice Coupler MAIC. For the surface temperature, this is done by a balance between the mean annual insolation and the outgoing long-wave radiation. The accumulation is assumed to be proportional to the saturation pressure of water vapour in the atmosphere, which is determined by the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, and the ablation is parameterized by a linear depencence on surface temperature. It will be investigated which effects the climatic cycles have on the extent, thickness and flow of the north-polar cap, and under which conditions the present configuration can be reproduced.

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