Growth and Decay of Ice Sheets During Glacial Cycles: The Example of Europe

The proposal is to develop a comprehensive model for the growth and decay of the ice sheets of Europe during the last glacial cycle, using a combination of diverse field evidence with geophysical modelling. The outcomes provide boundary conditions for climate models (times of inception and decay, ice limits, ice thickness) including processes driving climate as well as constraints on the Earth s mantle viscosity. Thus the project contributes to the quantitative characterisation of both climate change and planetary structure. In an Australian context, these outcomes form important elements in the development of predictive models for sea-level change.