Climate of the Past Discussions www.clim-past-discuss.net 1814-9340 1814-9359 5 2 2009 10.5194/cpd-5-1013-2009 http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/1013/2009/ http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/1013/2009/cpd-5-1013-2009.html http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/1013/2009/cpd-5-1013-2009.pdf 1013 1053 2009-03-17 Investigating the evolution of major Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last glacial-interglacial cycle S. Bonelli stefano.bonelli@lsce.ipsl.fr S. Charbit M. Kageyama M.-N. Woillez G. Ramstein C. Dumas A. Quiquet Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement IPSL/UMR CEA-CNRS 1572/UVSQ, CE Saclay, Orme de merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement (UMR 5183), 54 rue Molière, 38402 Saint Martin d'Hères cedex, France A 2.5-dimensional climate model of intermediate complexity fully coupled with a 3-dimensional thermo-mechanical ice sheet model is used to simulate the evolution of major Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last glacial-interglacial cycle and to investigate the ice sheets responses to both insolation and atmospheric CO₂ concentration. This model reproduces the main phases of advance and retreat of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the last glacial cycle, although the amplitude of these variations is less pronounced than those based on sea level reconstructions. 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