Numerical modelling of subglacial erosion and sediment transport and its application to the North American ice sheets over the Last Glacial cycle

► We present a new subglacial sediment production, transport, and deposition model. ► We compare subglacial erosion and quarrying in the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). ► Englacial sediment transport dominates subglacial sediment transport for the LIS. ► Hallet's law tends to underestimate abrasion in a continental-scale model of the LIS. ► Empirical erosion law is consistent with geological estimates of LIS erosion.