Abstract
Ice core derived proxy climate records from Antarctica suggest that decadal, century and possibly even millennial-scale temperature variations in East and West Antarctica may be temporally asynchronous. For example, records from the Antarctic Peninsula indicate a strong 20th century warming in which the high plateau of East Antarctica has not participated. Similarly, a recent Neoglacial cooling, the “Little Ice Age”, was prominent in East Antarctica, but absent in the Peninsula region. A new history of oxygen isotopic ratios (δ18O) and atmospheric dust concentrations from central East Antarctica suggests that the high inland plateau has been dominated by a cooling trend for the last 4000 years. Superimposed upon this isotopically-inferred cooling were a number of warmer events, the largest and most persistent of which occurred ≈ 3600 yr. BP and lasted several centuries. The most prominent event is a prolonged cold phase around 2200 yr. BP which is correlative with a mid-Neoglacial advance on South Georgia Island (Clapperton et al, 1989). Most intriguing are several shorter-term (multi-centennial scale) δ18O oscillations which are similar in magnitude to the glacial-interglacial transition in Antarctic ice cores. Although it is impossible to discount the effect of wind scouring and re-deposition in this low snow accumulation region, this 4000-year history raises important questions about the climate history on the high inland plateau during the last half of the Holocene. Certainly, a better spatial distribution of high resolution δ18O records from East Antarctica are necessary to determine the extent to which the Plateau Remote record is spatially representative.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ciais P, Jouzel J, Petit JR, Lipenkov V, White JWC. (1994) Holocene temperature variations inferred from six Antarctic ice cores. Annals of Glaciology, 20, 427–439
Ciais P, Petit JR, Jouzel J, Lorius C, Barkov NE, Lipenkov V, Nicolaiev V (1992) Evidence for an early Holocene climatic optimum in the Antarctic deep ice-core record. Climate Dynamics, 6, 169–177
Clapperton CM, Sugden DE, Birnie J, Wilson MJ (1989) Late-glacial and Holocene glacier fluctuations and environmental change on South Georgia, Southern Ocean. Quaternary Research, 31, 210–228
Dai J, Mosley-Thompson E, Thompson LG (1991) Ice core evidence for an explosive tropical volcanic eruption 6 years preceding Tambora. Journal of Geophysical Research, 96, 17, 361–117, 366
Drewry DJ (1983) Antarctica: Glaciological and Geophysical Folio. Scott Polar Research Institute ( U. of Cambridge ), England
Hogan AW (1975) Antarctic aerosols. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 14, 550–559
Junge CE (1977) Processes responsible for the trace content in precipitation. In: Isotopes and Impurities in Snow and Ice. IAHS-AISH Publication 118, 63–77
Kerr RA (1993) Even warm climates get the shivers. Science, 261, 292
Koerner RM (1971) A stratigraphic method of determining the snow accumulation rate at Plateau Station, Antarctica, and the application to South Pole — Queen Maud Land Traverse 2, 1965–1966. In: Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies, II (Ed. A.P. Crary ), American Geophysical Union, 225–238
Koster RD, Jouzel J, Suozzo RJ, Russell GL (1992) Origin of July Antarctic precipitation and its influence on deuterium content: a GCM analysis. Climate Dynamics, 7, 195–203 Lorius C, Raynaud D, Petit JR, Jouzel J, Merlivat L (1984) Late-glacial maximum-Holocene atmospheric and ice-thickness changes from antarctic ice-core studies. Annals of Glaciology, 5, 88–94
Lorius C, Raynaud D, Petit JR, Jouzel J, Merlivat L (1984) Late-glacial maximum-Holocene atmospheric and ice-thickness changes from antarctic ice-core studies. Annals of Glaciology, 5, 88–94
Lorius C, Jouzel J, Ritz C, Merlivat L, Barkov NI, Korotkevitch YS, Kotylavok VM (1985) A 150,000-year climatic record from Antarctic ice. Nature, 316, 591–596
Martinerie P, Lipenkov VY, Raynaud D, Chappellaz J, Barkov NI, Lorius C (1994) Air content paleo record in the Vostok ice core (Antarctica): A mixed record of climatic and glaciological processes. Journal of Geophysical Research, 99, 10565–10576
Mosley-Thompson E, Thompson LG (1982) Nine centuries of microparticle deposition at the South Pole. Quaternary Research, 17, 1–13
Mosley-Thompson E, Thompson LG, Dai J, Davis ME, Lin PN (1993) Climate of the last 500 years: high resolution ice core records. Quaternary Science Review, 12, 419–430
Mosley-Thompson E, Thompson LG, Dai J, Davis ME, Lin PN (1993) Climate of the last 500 years: high resolution ice core records. Quaternary Science Review, 12, 419–430
Palais JM, Kyle PR, Mosley-Thompson E, Thomas E (1987) Correlation of a 3,200 year old tephra in ice cores from Vostok and South Pole Stations, Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 14, 804–807
Picciotto E, Crozaz G, DeBreuck W (1971) Accumulation on the South Pole — Queen Maud Land traverse, 1964–1968. In: Antarctic Snow and Ice Studies, II (Ed. A.P. Crary ), American Geophysical Union, 257–315
Ritz C, Lliboutry L, Rado C (1982) Analysis of a 870 m deep temperature profile at Dome C. Annals of Glaciology, 3, 284–289
Schwerdtfeger W, Mahrt LJ (1968) The relation between the Antarctic temperatureinversion in the surface layer and its wind regime. IASGE Symposium, Hanover, NH, p. 308–315
Thompson LG (1977) Microparticles, ice sheets and climate. The Ohio State University Institute of Polar Studies (Columbus, Ohio, Report 64 )
Thompson LG, Mosley-Thompson E, Davis ME, Lin P-N, Henderson KA, Cole-Dai J, Bolzan JF, Liu K-b (1995) Late Glacial Stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascaran, Peru. Science, 269, 46–50
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mosley-Thompson, E. (1996). Holocene Climate Changes Recorded in an East Antarctica Ice Core. In: Jones, P.D., Bradley, R.S., Jouzel, J. (eds) Climatic Variations and Forcing Mechanisms of the Last 2000 Years. NATO ASI Series, vol 41. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61113-1_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61113-1_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64700-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-61113-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive