A high-resolution reconstruction of Storglaciären mass balance back to 1780/81 using tree-ring data and circulation indices
Abstract Storglaciären in northernmost Sweden has the world's longest ongoing continuous mass-balance record, starting in 1946. To extend this mass-balance record, we have reconstructed summer ( b S ) and winter ( b W ) mass balances separately back to the mass balance year 1780/81 with annual...
| Published in: | Quaternary Research |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2007
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2006.08.005 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589406001074?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589406001074?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400004701 |
| Summary: | Abstract Storglaciären in northernmost Sweden has the world's longest ongoing continuous mass-balance record, starting in 1946. To extend this mass-balance record, we have reconstructed summer ( b S ) and winter ( b W ) mass balances separately back to the mass balance year 1780/81 with annual resolution. We used tree-ring data for b S and a set of circulation indices, based on the sea-level pressure, for b W . Both proxies have correlation coefficients with respective mass balance components of ca. 0.7. The reconstructed net balance ( b N ) of Storglaciären was well correlated to the observations during 1946–1980 ( r = 0.8, p < 0.05). Our reconstruction agrees well with previously obtained results of northern Sweden glacier variability, where the predominantly positive b N years between 1890 and 1910 correspond to the well documented post-Little Ice Age advance of Storglaciären. Furthermore, the results suggest that b S , as a function of summer temperatures, is more important than b W in determining the b N , which is contrary to glaciers in the maritime parts of western Scandinavia. In general, b N has been negative over the last 220 yr, suggesting a predomination of continental conditions over northern Sweden. However, the influence of b W increased in the late twentieth century, indicating a shift to a more oceanic climate regime. |
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