Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of the Little Ice Age: The Antarctic Ice Core Record

• Main Authors: Mosley-Thompson, Ellen, Thompson, Lonnie G.
• Other Authors: OHIO STATE UNIV COLUMBUS
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: Geography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Meteorology; *CORES; *DUST; *ICE; *ANTARCTIC REGIONS; ADDITION; COOLING; HEMISPHERES; HIGH RESOLUTION; PENINSULAS; PICTURES; RECORDS; REGIONS; RESOLUTION; RINGS; STATIONS; TEMPERATURE; TREES; SYMPOSIA; SURFACE TEMPERATURE; Component Reports; *Spatial characteristics; *Temporal characteristics; *Little ice age.; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; East Antarctica; Fairbanks; South Pole; Siple; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; ice core; permafrost; South pole; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP007347; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP007347

Recently, ice core records from both hemispheres, in conjunction with other proxy records (e.g., tree rings, speleothems and corals), have shown that the Little Ice Age (LIA) was spatially extensive, extending to the Antarctic. This paper examines the temporal and spatial characteristics of the dust and delta 18O information from Antarctic ice cores. Substantial differences exist in the records. For example, a 550-year record of delta 18O and dust concentrations from Siple Station, Antarctica suggests that warmer, less dusty conditions prevailed from A.D. 1600 to 1830. Alternately, dust and delta 18O data from South Pole Station indicate that opposite conditions (e.g., cooler and more dusty) were prevalent during the LIA. Three additional Antarctic delta 18O records are integrated with the Siple and South Pole histories for a more comprehensive picture of LIA conditions. The records provide additional support for the LIA temperature opposition between the Antarctic Peninsula region and East Antarctica. In addition, periods of strongest LIA cooling are not temporally synchronous over East Antarctica. These strong regional differences demonstrate that a suite of spatially distributed, high resolution ice core records will be necessary to characterize the LIA in Antarctica. This article is from 'Proceedings of the International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change Held in Fairbanks, Alaska on 11-15 June 1990. Volume 2', AD-A253 028, p606-610. See also Volume 1, AD-A253 027.