Abstract
Cryophenological records (i.e. observational series of freeze and breakup dates of ice) are of great importance when assessing the environmental variations in cold regions. Here we employed the extraordinarily long observational records of river ice breakup dates and air temperatures in northern Fennoscandia to examine their interrelations since 1802. Historical observations, along with modern data, comprise the informational setting for this analysis carried out using t-test. Temperature history of April-May season was used as climatic counterpart for the breakup timings. Both records (temperature and breakup) showed seven sub-periods during which their local means were distinctly different relative to preceding and subsequent sub-periods. The starting and ending years of these sub-periods occurred in temporal agreement. The main findings of this study are summarized as follows: (1) the synchrony between the temperature and river ice breakup records ruled out the possibility that the changes would have occurred due to quality of the historical series (i.e. inhomogeneity problems often linked to historical time-series); (2) the studied records agreed to show lower spring temperatures and later river ice breakups during the 19th century, in comparison to the 20th century conditions, evidencing the prevalence of cooler spring temperatures in the study region, in agreement with the concept of the Little Ice Age (1570–1900) climate in North-West Europe; (3) the most recent sub-period demonstrate the highest spring temperatures with concomitantly earliest river ice breakups, showing the relative warmth of the current springtime climate in the study region in the context of the past two centuries; (4) the effects of anthropogenic changes in the river environment (e.g. construction and demolition of dams) during the 20th century should be considered for non-climatic variations in the breakup records; (5) this study emphasizes the importance of multi-centurial (i.e. historical) cryophenological information for highly interesting viewpoints of climate and environmental history.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beltaos S, Burrell B C, 2003. Climatic change and river ice breakup. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 30: 145–155.
Crowley T J, 2000. Causes of climate change over the past 1000 years. Science, 289: 270–277.
Datsenko N M, Moberg A, Sonechkin D M, 2002. Objective time-scale-dependent homogenization of early instrumental temperature series. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 72: 103–126.
Grove J H, 1988. The Little Ice Age. London: Routledge.
Holopainen J, 2006. Reconstructions of past climates from documentary and natural sources in Finland since the 18th century. Publications of the Department of Geology, University of Helsinki, D9: 1–33.
Holopainen J, Helama S, Kajander J M et al., 2009. A multiproxy reconstruction of spring temperatures in south-west Finland since 1750. Climatic Change, 92: 213–233.
Hyvärinen V, 2003. Trends and characteristics of hydrological time series in Finland. Nordic Hydrology, 34: 71–90.
Jiang Jianmin, Gu Xiangqian, Ju Jianhua, 2007. Significant changes in subseries means and variances in an 8000-year precipitation reconstruction from tree rings in the southwestern USA. Annales Geophysicae, 25: 1519–1530.
Jiang Jianmin, Mendelssohn R, Schwing F et al., 2002. Coherency detection of multiscale significant changes in historic Nile flood levels. Geophysical Research Letters, 29, doi: 10.1029/2002GL014826.
Johansson O V, 1932. Isförhållandena vid Uleåborg och I Torne älv. Bidrag till kännedom af Finlands natur och folk, 84(3): 3–45.
Jylhä K, Tuomenvirta H, Ruosteenoja K, 2004. Climate change projections for Finland during the 21st century. Boreal Environmental Research, 9: 127–152.
Kajander J, 1993. Methodological aspects on river cryophenology exemplified by a tricentennial break-up time series from Tornio. Geophysica, 29: 73–95.
Kajander J, 1995. Cryophenological records from Tornio. Mimeograph Series of the National Board of Waters and the Environment, 552: 1–189.
Klingbjer P, Moberg A, 2003. A composite monthly temperature record from Tornedalen in Northern Sweden, 1802–2002. International Journal of Climatology, 23: 1465–1494.
Korhonen J, 2005. Ice conditions in lakes and rivers in Finland. The Finnish Environment, 751: 1–145.
Korhonen J, 2006. Long-term changes in lake ice cover in Finland. Nordic Hydrology, 37: 347–363.
Korhonen J, 2007. Discharge and water level variations in lakes and rivers in Finland. The Finnish Environment, 45: 1–120.
Kuusisto E, 2006. Lake and river systems in Finland. The Finnish Environment, 23: 49–58.
Lammassaari V, 1990. Floating and its effects on watercourses. Publications of the Water and Environment Adminstration: Series A, 54: 1–238.
Loader NJ, Jalkanen R, McCarroll D, Moberg A, 2011. Spring temperature variability in northern Fennoscandia AD 1693–2011. Journal of Quaternary Science, 26: 566–570.
Magnuson J J, Robertson D M, Benson B J et al., 2000. Historical trends in lake and river ice cover in the northern hemisphere. Science, 289: 1743–1746.
Matthews J A, Briffa K R, 2005. The ‘Little Ice Age’: Re-evaluation of an evolving concept. Geografiska Annaler, 87A: 17–36.
Moberg A, Alexandersson H, Bergström H et al., 2003. Were Southern Swedish summer temperatures before 1860 as warm as measured? International Journal of Climatology, 23: 1495–1521.
Moberg A, Gouirand I, Schoning K et al., 2006. Climate in Sweden during the past millennium — Evidence from proxy data, instrumental data and model simulations. Stockholm: Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SKB Technical Report TR-06-35.
Moberg A, Tuomenvirta H, Nordli Ø, 2005. Recent climatic trends. In: Seppälä M (ed.) Physical Geography of Fennoscandia. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford Regional Environments Series), 113–133.
Morse B, Hicks F, 2005. Advances in river ice hydrology 1999–2003. Hydrological Processes, 19: 247–263.
Prowse T D, Beltaos S, 2002. Climatic control of river-ice hydrology: A review. Hydrological Processes, 16: 805–822.
Takács K, Z. Kern Z, Nagy B, 2013. Impacts of anthropogenic effects on river ice regime: Examples from Eastern Central Europe. Quaternary International, 293: 275–282.
Tuomenvirta H, 2004. Reliable estimation of climatic variations in Finland. Finnish Meteorological Institute Contributions, 43: 1–79.
von Storch H V, Zwiers F, 1999. Statistical Analysis in Climate Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zachrisson G, 1989. Climate variations and ice conditions in the River Torneälven. The Publications of the Academy of Finland, 9(1): 353–364.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation: Academy of Finland, No.251441; The Project of Ministry of Finance, No.GYHY200706005; Kone Foundation (Finland)
Author: Samuli Helama (1974–), Ph.D and Adjuct Professor, specialized in time-series analysis of natural records.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Helama, S., Jiang, J., Korhonen, J. et al. Quantifying temporal changes in Tornionjoki river ice breakup dates and spring temperatures in Lapland since 1802. J. Geogr. Sci. 23, 1069–1079 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-013-1063-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-013-1063-1