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Climatic Variations and Forcing Mechanisms of the Last 2000 Years pp 213–241Cite as

Climate reconstruction from water isotopes: What do we learn from isotopic models?

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 41))

Abstract

The documented distributions of HDO and H2 18O in modern precipitation show clear relationships between these concentrations and certain climatic variables. Of particular interest is the linear relationship, in middle and high latitudes, between mean annual isotope concentration and mean annual temperature at the precipitation site. Paleoclimatologits have used this relationship to infer paleotemperatures from isotope paleodata, which can be extracted, for example, from polar ice and high altitude tropical glaciers.

Isotope models allow an examination and evaluation of the critical assumptions behind such a temperature reconstruction. Here, we review recent progress in water isotope modeling, focusing on simple Rayleigh-type distillation models and general circulation models (GCMs) fitted with isotope tracer diagnostics. The latter models which better account for the complexity of the atmospheric processes generating precipitation, are particularly well-suited for examining how factors such as local temperature, evaporative source temperature, and precipitation seasonality can affect an isotope signal over time. Available GCM results help justify the practice of interpreting ice core isotopic records in terms of local temperature changes, despite the possible influence of such other factors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Modélisation du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA/DSM, CE Saclay, 91191, Gif Sur Yvette, France

    Jean Jouzel & Sylvie Joussaume

  2. Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l’Environnement, CNRS, St Martin D’heres, B.P. 96, 38402, France

    Jean Jouzel

  3. Hydrological Sciences Branch, Code 974, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Randy Koster

  4. Laboratoire d’Océanographie Dynamique et Climatologie, CNRS/Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, 75252, France

    Sylvie Joussaume

Authors
  1. Jean Jouzel
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  2. Randy Koster
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  3. Sylvie Joussaume
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Philip D. Jones

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 01003-5820, MA, USA

    Raymond S. Bradley

  3. Laboratoire de Modélisation du Climat et de l’Environnment, Orme des Merisiers, C E Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, F-91191, France

    Jean Jouzel

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Jouzel, J., Koster, R., Joussaume, S. (1996). Climate reconstruction from water isotopes: What do we learn from isotopic models?. 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_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61113-1_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64700-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-61113-1

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