A new ice core drilled in 2010 to bedrock from the Bruce Plateau (BP) on the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) provides a high temporal resolution record of environmental conditions in this region. The extremely high annual accumulation rate at this site facilitates analysis of the relationships between annual net accumulation An on the BP and large-scale atmospheric oscillations. Over the last ~45 years, An on the BP has been positively correlated with both the southern annular mode (SAM) and Southern Oscillation index (SOI). Extending this analysis back to 1900 reveals that these relationships are not temporally stable, and they exhibit major shifts in the late-1940s and the mid-1970s that are contemporaneous with phase changes in the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). These varying multidecadal characteristics of the An–oscillation relationships are not apparent when only data from the post-1970s era are employed. Analysis of the longer ice core record reveals that the influence of the SAM on An depends not only on the phase of the SAM and SOI but also on the phase of the PDO. When the SAM’s influence on BP An is reduced, such as under negative PDO conditions, BP An is modulated by variability in the tropical and subtropical atmosphere through its impacts on the strength and position of the circumpolar westerlies in the AP region. These results demonstrate the importance of using longer-term ice core–derived proxy records to test conventional views of atmospheric circulation variability in the AP region.
Data collected between 1974 and 2016 from snow pits and core samples from two Peruvian ice fields demonstrate the effect of the recent warming over the tropical Andes, augmented by El Niño, on the preservation of the climate record. As the 0°C isotherm is approaching the summit of the Quelccaya ice cap in the Andes of southern Peru (5,670 meters above sea level (masl)), the distinctive seasonal δ18O oscillations in the fresh snow deposited within each thermal year are attenuated at depth due to melting and percolation through the firn. This has become increasingly pronounced over 43 years. In the Andes of northern Peru, the ice field on the col of Nevado Huascarán (6050 masl) has retained its seasonal δ18O variations at depth due to its higher elevation. During the 2015/2016 El Niño, snow on Quelccaya and Huascarán was isotopically (δ18O) enriched and the net sum of accumulation over the previous year (NSA) was below the mean for non–El Niño years, particularly on Quelccaya (up to 64% below the mean) which was more pronounced than the NSA decrease during the comparable 1982/1983 El Niño. Interannual large‐scale oceanic and middle to upper‐level atmospheric temperatures influence δ18O in precipitation on both ice fields, although the influences are variably affected by strong El Niño–Southern Oscillation events, especially on Quelccaya. The rate of ice wastage along Quelccaya's margin was dramatically higher during 2015/2016 compared with that of the previous 15 years, suggesting that warming from future El Niños may accelerate mass loss on Peruvian glaciers.
Annual net accumulation (An) from the Bruce Plateau (BP) ice core retrieved from the Antarctic Peninsula exhibits a notable relationship with sea ice extent (SIE) in the Bellingshausen Sea. Over the satellite era, both BP An and Bellingshausen SIE are influenced by large‐scale climatic factors such as the Amundsen Sea Low, Southern Annular Mode, and Southern Oscillation. In addition to the direct response of BP An to Bellingshausen SIE (e.g., more open water as a moisture source), these large‐scale climate phenomena also link the BP and the Bellingshausen Sea indirectly such that they exhibit similar responses (e.g., northerly wind anomalies advect warm, moist air to the Antarctic Peninsula and neighboring Bellingshausen Sea, which reduces SIE and increases An). Comparison with a time series of fast ice at South Orkney Islands reveals a relationship between BP An and sea ice in the northern Weddell Sea that is relatively consistent over the twentieth century, except when it is modulated by atmospheric wave patterns described by the Trans‐Polar Index. The trend of increasing accumulation on the Bruce Plateau since ~1970 agrees with other climate records and reconstructions in the region and suggests that the current rate of sea ice loss in the Bellingshausen Sea is unrivaled in the twentieth century.
Using an assemblage of four ice cores collected around the Pacific Basin, one of the first basin-wide histories of Pacific climate variability has been created. This ice core-derived index of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) incorporates ice core records from South America, the Himalaya, the Antarctic Peninsula, and northwestern North America. The reconstructed IPO is annually resolved and dates to 1450 CE. The IPO index compares well with observations during the instrumental period and with paleo-proxy assimilated datasets throughout the entire record which indicates a robust and temporally stationary IPO signal for the last ∼550 years. Paleoclimate reconstructions from the tropical Pacific region vary greatly during the Little Ice Age (LIA), though the reconstructed IPO index in this study suggests that the LIA was primarily defined by a weak, negative IPO phase and hence more La Niña-like conditions. Although the mean state of the tropical Pacific Ocean during the LIA remains uncertain, the reconstructed IPO reveals some interesting dynamical relationships with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). In the current warm period, a positive (negative) IPO coincides with an expansion (contraction) of the seasonal, latitudinal range of the ITCZ. This relationship is not stationary, however, and is virtually absent throughout the LIA suggesting that external forcing, such as that from volcanoes and/or reduced solar irradiance, could be driving either the ITCZ shifts or the climate dominating the ice core sites used in the IPO reconstruction.
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