Twentieth-Century Surface Temperature Trends in the Western Ross Sea, Antarctica: Evidence from a High-Resolution Ice Core

A 125-yr ice core record of climate from the Whitehall Glacier ice divide provides exceptionally highresolution stable isotope data from the northwest margin of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. This is the only proxy data available to extend the instrumental record of temperature in this region, where litt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of climate 2012-05, Vol.25 (10), p.3629-3636
Main Authors: Sinclair, Kate E., Bertler, Nancy A. N., van Ommen, Tas D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annual temperatures
Antarctic Oscillation
Antarctic regions
Climate
Climate change
Climate variability
Coasts
Cold season
Colleges & universities
Cores
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Glacier ice
Glaciers
High resolution
Ice
Ice cores
Isotopes
Mean annual temperatures
Paleoclimatology
Precipitation
Resolution
Science
Sea ice
Seas
Snow
Stable isotopes
Surface temperature
Temperature
Temperature trends
Transfer functions
Trends
Weather
Winds
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Summary:A 125-yr ice core record of climate from the Whitehall Glacier ice divide provides exceptionally highresolution stable isotope data from the northwest margin of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. This is the only proxy data available to extend the instrumental record of temperature in this region, where little is known about climate variability over the past two centuries. Using ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) data, this study develops a precipitation-weightedδ 18O-temperature transfer function of 0.62‰ °C−1, which is comparable to other proximal ice cores, such as Taylor, Talos, and Law Domes. Reconstructed mean annual temperatures show no significant change between 1882 and 2006. However, a decrease in cold season [April–September (AMJJAS)] temperatures of −1.59° ± 0.84°C decade−1(at 90% confidence) is observed since 1979. This cooling trend is in contrast to a surface temperature record from Ross Island (Scott Base) where significant spring warming is observed. It is also coincident with a positive trend in the southern annular mode, which is linked to stronger southerly winds and increased sea ice extent and duration in the western Ross Sea.
ISSN:0894-8755
1520-0442
DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00496.1