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Decadal‐scale variability in long‐range atmospheric transport to the Summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Author(s) -
Kahl Jonathan D. W.,
Galbraith Jennifer A.,
Martinez Dewayne A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl900021
Subject(s) - greenland ice sheet , ice core , climatology , groenlandia , teleconnection , snow , ice sheet , cryosphere , geology , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , oceanography , el niño southern oscillation , sea ice , geomorphology
Ice cores extracted from the Summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet date to >110 kyr b.p. and reveal fluctuations in chemical and physical characteristics on time scales ranging from days to millenia. Long‐range atmospheric transport patterns contribute substantially to variability in both airborne and snow‐deposited chemical species, and are thus one of the most important considerations in assessing climate variability preserved in polar ice cores. Here we present new evidence of decadal‐scale climate variability through an analysis of 44 years of modeled, 10‐day air trajectories arriving daily at Summit, Greenland. Trajectory residence times over specific upwind regions reveal interannual oscillations with periods of 4–14 years, and are correlated with three climate teleconnection indices. Our results suggest that the observed link between upstream source regions and the phases of large‐scale climate oscillations may be exploited to further understand paleoclimatic oscillations.