A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr
Global climate models suggest that Antarctic snowfall should increase in a warming climate and mitigate rises in the sea level. Several processes affect surface mass balance (SMB), introducing large uncertainties in past, present and future ice sheet mass balance. To provide an extended perspective...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f263b92b74ad47fbb0777f111f3de4da 2023-05-15T13:51:45+02:00 A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr M. Frezzotti C. Scarchilli S. Becagli M. Proposito S. Urbini 2013-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-303-2013 https://doaj.org/article/f263b92b74ad47fbb0777f111f3de4da EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/303/2013/tc-7-303-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-303-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f263b92b74ad47fbb0777f111f3de4da The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 303-319 (2013) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-303-2013 2022-12-31T00:03:37Z Global climate models suggest that Antarctic snowfall should increase in a warming climate and mitigate rises in the sea level. Several processes affect surface mass balance (SMB), introducing large uncertainties in past, present and future ice sheet mass balance. To provide an extended perspective on the past SMB of Antarctica, we used 67 firn/ice core records to reconstruct the temporal variability in the SMB over the past 800 yr and, in greater detail, over the last 200 yr. Our SMB reconstructions indicate that the SMB changes over most of Antarctica are statistically negligible and that the current SMB is not exceptionally high compared to the last 800 yr. High-accumulation periods have occurred in the past, specifically during the 1370s and 1610s. However, a clear increase in accumulation of more than 10% has occurred in high SMB coastal regions and over the highest part of the East Antarctic ice divide since the 1960s. To explain the differences in behaviour between the coastal/ice divide sites and the rest of Antarctica, we suggest that a higher frequency of blocking anticyclones increases the precipitation at coastal sites, leading to the advection of moist air in the highest areas, whereas blowing snow and/or erosion have significant negative impacts on the SMB at windy sites. Eight hundred years of stacked records of the SMB mimic the total solar irradiance during the 13th and 18th centuries. The link between those two variables is probably indirect and linked to a teleconnection in atmospheric circulation that forces complex feedback between the tropical Pacific and Antarctica via the generation and propagation of a large-scale atmospheric wave train. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Ice Sheet The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Pacific The Cryosphere 7 1 303 319 |
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 M. Frezzotti C. Scarchilli S. Becagli M. Proposito S. Urbini A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Global climate models suggest that Antarctic snowfall should increase in a warming climate and mitigate rises in the sea level. Several processes affect surface mass balance (SMB), introducing large uncertainties in past, present and future ice sheet mass balance. To provide an extended perspective on the past SMB of Antarctica, we used 67 firn/ice core records to reconstruct the temporal variability in the SMB over the past 800 yr and, in greater detail, over the last 200 yr. Our SMB reconstructions indicate that the SMB changes over most of Antarctica are statistically negligible and that the current SMB is not exceptionally high compared to the last 800 yr. High-accumulation periods have occurred in the past, specifically during the 1370s and 1610s. However, a clear increase in accumulation of more than 10% has occurred in high SMB coastal regions and over the highest part of the East Antarctic ice divide since the 1960s. To explain the differences in behaviour between the coastal/ice divide sites and the rest of Antarctica, we suggest that a higher frequency of blocking anticyclones increases the precipitation at coastal sites, leading to the advection of moist air in the highest areas, whereas blowing snow and/or erosion have significant negative impacts on the SMB at windy sites. Eight hundred years of stacked records of the SMB mimic the total solar irradiance during the 13th and 18th centuries. The link between those two variables is probably indirect and linked to a teleconnection in atmospheric circulation that forces complex feedback between the tropical Pacific and Antarctica via the generation and propagation of a large-scale atmospheric wave train. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M. Frezzotti C. Scarchilli S. Becagli M. Proposito S. Urbini |
author_facet |
M. Frezzotti C. Scarchilli S. Becagli M. Proposito S. Urbini |
author_sort |
M. Frezzotti |
title |
A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
title_short |
A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
title_full |
A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
title_fullStr |
A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
title_full_unstemmed |
A synthesis of the Antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
title_sort |
synthesis of the antarctic surface mass balance during the last 800 yr |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-303-2013 https://doaj.org/article/f263b92b74ad47fbb0777f111f3de4da |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Pacific |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Ice Sheet The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 303-319 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/303/2013/tc-7-303-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-303-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/f263b92b74ad47fbb0777f111f3de4da |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-303-2013 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
303 |
op_container_end_page |
319 |
_version_ |
1766255779884564480 |