A major component of the climate system on the 10 000-100 000 year
time-scales is continental ice sheets, yet many of the mechanisms involved
in the land-sea-ice processes that affect the ice sheets are poorly
understood. In order to examine these processes in more detail, we have
developed a coupled energy balance climate-thermodynamic
sea-ice—continental-ice-sheet model (CCSLI model). This model includes a
hydrologic cycle, a detailed surface energy and mass balance, a
thermodynamic sea-ice model, and a zonally averaged dynamic ice-flow model
with bedrock depression.
Because of the variety of space and time-scales inherent in such a model, we
have asynchronously coupled the land—ice model to the other components of
the model. In this paper the asynchronous coupling is described and
sensitivity studies are presented that determine the values of the
asynchronous coupling parameters. Model simulations using these values allow
the model to run nearly ten times faster with minimal changes in the final
state of the ice sheet.