Radionuclide transport during glacial cycles: Comparison of two approaches for representing flow transients

► We model the effect of ice sheet movement and permafrost on geosphere radionuclide transport. ► A novel Monte Carlo time-domain particle tracking scheme is used for the transport simulations. ► We compare transport in steady-state flow with transport in pseudo-transient flow. ► The steady-state method with varying velocity magnitude captures main breakthrough features. ► The pseudo-transient method is needed to capture discharge locations during a glacial cycle.