Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica
Glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica are rapidly retreating and contributing to sea level rise. Ice loss is occurring primarily via exposure to warm ocean water, which varies in response to local wind variability. There is evidence that retreat was initiated in the mid-20th cent...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8352b2080d414b8ebef619e854170fd0 2023-11-12T04:00:48+01:00 Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica G. K. O'Connor P. R. Holland E. J. Steig P. Dutrieux G. J. Hakim 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023 https://doaj.org/article/8352b2080d414b8ebef619e854170fd0 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/4399/2023/tc-17-4399-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/8352b2080d414b8ebef619e854170fd0 The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 4399-4420 (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023 2023-10-22T00:37:25Z Glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica are rapidly retreating and contributing to sea level rise. Ice loss is occurring primarily via exposure to warm ocean water, which varies in response to local wind variability. There is evidence that retreat was initiated in the mid-20th century, but the perturbation that may have triggered retreat remains unknown. A leading hypothesis is that large pressure and wind anomalies in the 1940s drove exceptionally strong oceanic ice-shelf melting. However, the characteristics, drivers, and rarity of the atmospheric event remain poorly constrained. We investigate the 1940s atmospheric event using paleoclimate reconstructions and climate model simulations. The reconstructions show that large westerly wind anomalies occurred from ∼1938 –1942, a combined response to the very large El Niño event from 1940–1942 and other variability beginning years earlier. Climate model simulations provide evidence that events of similar magnitude and duration may occur tens to hundreds of times per 10 kyr of internal climate variability ( ∼0.2 to 2.5 occurrences per century). Our results suggest that the 1940s westerly event is unlikely to have been exceptional enough to be the sole explanation for the initiation of Amundsen Sea glacier retreat. Additional factors are likely needed to explain the onset of retreat in West Antarctica, such as naturally arising variability in ocean conditions prior to the 1940s or anthropogenically driven trends since the 1940s. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf The Cryosphere West Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Amundsen Sea West Antarctica The Cryosphere 17 10 4399 4420 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 G. K. O'Connor P. R. Holland E. J. Steig P. Dutrieux G. J. Hakim Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica are rapidly retreating and contributing to sea level rise. Ice loss is occurring primarily via exposure to warm ocean water, which varies in response to local wind variability. There is evidence that retreat was initiated in the mid-20th century, but the perturbation that may have triggered retreat remains unknown. A leading hypothesis is that large pressure and wind anomalies in the 1940s drove exceptionally strong oceanic ice-shelf melting. However, the characteristics, drivers, and rarity of the atmospheric event remain poorly constrained. We investigate the 1940s atmospheric event using paleoclimate reconstructions and climate model simulations. The reconstructions show that large westerly wind anomalies occurred from ∼1938 –1942, a combined response to the very large El Niño event from 1940–1942 and other variability beginning years earlier. Climate model simulations provide evidence that events of similar magnitude and duration may occur tens to hundreds of times per 10 kyr of internal climate variability ( ∼0.2 to 2.5 occurrences per century). Our results suggest that the 1940s westerly event is unlikely to have been exceptional enough to be the sole explanation for the initiation of Amundsen Sea glacier retreat. Additional factors are likely needed to explain the onset of retreat in West Antarctica, such as naturally arising variability in ocean conditions prior to the 1940s or anthropogenically driven trends since the 1940s. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
G. K. O'Connor P. R. Holland E. J. Steig P. Dutrieux G. J. Hakim |
author_facet |
G. K. O'Connor P. R. Holland E. J. Steig P. Dutrieux G. J. Hakim |
author_sort |
G. K. O'Connor |
title |
Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica |
title_short |
Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica |
title_full |
Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica |
title_sort |
characteristics and rarity of the strong 1940s westerly wind event over the amundsen sea, west antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023 https://doaj.org/article/8352b2080d414b8ebef619e854170fd0 |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea West Antarctica |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelf The Cryosphere West Antarctica |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 4399-4420 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/4399/2023/tc-17-4399-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/8352b2080d414b8ebef619e854170fd0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4399-2023 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
4399 |
op_container_end_page |
4420 |
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1782328805207048192 |