Influence of seasonal sea-ice loss on Arctic precipitation δ18O: a GCM-based analysis of monthly data

Rapid Arctic warming and sea-ice loss have intensified the Arctic hydrological cycle, increasing local evaporation and precipitation. Stable water isotopes as environmental tracers can provide useful insights into the Arctic hydrological cycle. However, the paucity of isotopic observations in the Ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Wenxuan Song, Zhongfang Liu, Haimao Lan, Xiaohe Huan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2023
Subjects:
precipitation isotope
arctic warming
sea ice
local evaporation
hydrological cycle
palaeotemperature reconstruction
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Arctic
Polar Research
Sea ice
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v42.9751
https://doaj.org/article/c95c03e5d0464672a211867e1e3cfa9c
Description
Summary:Rapid Arctic warming and sea-ice loss have intensified the Arctic hydrological cycle, increasing local evaporation and precipitation. Stable water isotopes as environmental tracers can provide useful insights into the Arctic hydrological cycle. However, the paucity of isotopic observations in the Arctic has limited our understanding of the hydrological changes. Here, we use an isotope-enabled atmospheric general circulation model (IsoGSM) combined with the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) observations to investigate the relationship between sea-ice changes and Arctic precipitation δ18O (δ18Op) to reveal the relative influence of local air temperature and evaporation on Arctic summer and winter δ18Op. We find that the Arctic δ18Op is negatively correlated with sea-ice concentration but positively with air temperature. Sea-ice loss leads to enriched Arctic δ18Op through enhanced local evaporation and warming, but the relative importance of these processes varies between seasons. During summer, both local evaporation and warming contribute equally to δ18Op changes. In contrast, winter δ18O is predominantly driven by air temperature. This work improves our understanding of how Arctic precipitation isotopes respond to sea-ice changes and has implications for the Arctic hydrological cycle and palaeotemperature reconstructions.

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