Late-glacial to late-Holocene shifts in global precipitation δ18O

• Published in: Climate of the Past
• Main Authors: Jasechko, S., Lechler, A, Pausata, F.S.R., Fawcett, P.J., Gleeson, T., Cendón, D.I., Galewsky, J., Legrande, A. N., Risi, C, Sharp, Z.D., Welker, J.M., Werner, M., Yoshimura, K.
• Other Authors: Department of Geography Calgary, University of Calgary, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Albuquerque (EPS), The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma (PLU), Department of Meteorology Stockholm (MISU), Stockholm University, University of Victoria Canada (UVIC), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Australie (ANSTO), NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine (AWI), Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute Kashiwa-shi (AORI), The University of Tokyo (UTokyo)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01259458; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01259458/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01259458/file/cp-11-1375-2015.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1375-2015

International audience Reconstructions of Quaternary climate are often based on the isotopic content of paleo-precipitation preserved in proxy records. While many paleo-precipitation isotope records are available, few studies have synthesized these dispersed records to explore spatial patterns of late-glacial precipitation δ 18 O. Here we present a synthesis of 86 globally distributed groundwater (n = 59), cave calcite (n = 15) and ice core (n = 12) isotope records spanning the late-glacial (defined as ∼ 50 000 to ∼ 20 000 years ago) to the late-Holocene (within the past ∼ 5000 years). We show that precipitation δ 18 O changes from the late-glacial to the late-Holocene range from −7.1 ‰ (δ 18 O late-Holocene > δ 18 O late-glacial) to +1.7 ‰ (δ 18 O late-glacial > δ 18 O late-Holocene), with the majority (77 %) of records having lower late-glacial δ 18 O than late-Holocene δ 18 O values. High-magnitude, negative precipitation δ 18 O shifts are common at high latitudes, high altitudes and continental interiors (δ 18 O late-Holocene > δ 18 O late-glacial by more than 3 ‰). Conversely, low-magnitude, positive precipitation δ 18 O shifts are concentrated along tropical and subtropical coasts (δ 18 O late-glacial > δ 18 O late-Holocene by less than 2 ‰). Broad, global patterns of late-glacial to late-Holocene precipitation δ 18 O shifts suggest that stronger-than-modern isotopic distillation of air masses prevailed during the late-glacial, likely impacted by larger global temperature differences between the tropics and the poles. Further, to test how well general circulation models reproduce global precipitation δ 18 O shifts, we compiled simulated precipitation δ 18 O shifts from five isotope-enabled general circulation models simulated under recent and last glacial maximum climate states. Climate simulations generally show better inter-model and model-measurement agreement in temperate regions than in the tropics, highlighting a need for further research to better understand how inter-model spread in ...