The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes
The stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen in polar ice cores are known to record environmental change, and they have been widely used as a paleothermometer. Although it is known to be a simplification, the relationship is often explained by invoking a single condensation pathway with progress...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_24579 2024-04-28T07:55:36+00:00 The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes Siler, Nicholas (author) Bailey, Adriana (author) Roe, Gerard H. (author) Buizert, Christo (author) Markle, Bradley (author) Noone, David (author) 2021-08 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 en eng Journal of Climate--0894-8755--1520-0442 articles:24579 doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 ark:/85065/d7pc35sn Copyright 202134 American Meteorological Society (AMS). article Text 2021 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 2024-04-04T17:35:13Z The stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen in polar ice cores are known to record environmental change, and they have been widely used as a paleothermometer. Although it is known to be a simplification, the relationship is often explained by invoking a single condensation pathway with progressive distillation to the temperature at the location of the ice core. In reality, the physical factors are complicated, and recent studies have identified robust aspects of the hydrologic cycle's response to climate change that could influence the isotope-temperature relationship. In this study, we introduce a new zonal-mean isotope model derived from radiative transfer theory and incorporate it into a recently developed moist energy balance climate model (MEBM), thus providing an internally consistent representation of the physical coupling between temperature, hydrology, and isotope ratios in the zonal-mean climate. The isotope model reproduces the observed pattern of meteoric delta O-18 in the modern climate and allows us to evaluate the relative importance of different processes for the temporal correlation between delta O-18 and temperature at high latitudes. We find that the positive temporal correlation in polar ice cores is predominantly a result of suppressed high-latitude evaporation with cooling, rather than local temperature changes. The same mechanism also explains the difference in the strength of the isotope-temperature relationship between Greenland and Antarctica. 1852977 Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Greenland ice core OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Journal of Climate 1 51 |
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Open Polar |
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OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
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ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
The stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen in polar ice cores are known to record environmental change, and they have been widely used as a paleothermometer. Although it is known to be a simplification, the relationship is often explained by invoking a single condensation pathway with progressive distillation to the temperature at the location of the ice core. In reality, the physical factors are complicated, and recent studies have identified robust aspects of the hydrologic cycle's response to climate change that could influence the isotope-temperature relationship. In this study, we introduce a new zonal-mean isotope model derived from radiative transfer theory and incorporate it into a recently developed moist energy balance climate model (MEBM), thus providing an internally consistent representation of the physical coupling between temperature, hydrology, and isotope ratios in the zonal-mean climate. The isotope model reproduces the observed pattern of meteoric delta O-18 in the modern climate and allows us to evaluate the relative importance of different processes for the temporal correlation between delta O-18 and temperature at high latitudes. We find that the positive temporal correlation in polar ice cores is predominantly a result of suppressed high-latitude evaporation with cooling, rather than local temperature changes. The same mechanism also explains the difference in the strength of the isotope-temperature relationship between Greenland and Antarctica. 1852977 |
author2 |
Siler, Nicholas (author) Bailey, Adriana (author) Roe, Gerard H. (author) Buizert, Christo (author) Markle, Bradley (author) Noone, David (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
spellingShingle |
The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
title_short |
The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
title_full |
The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
title_fullStr |
The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
title_full_unstemmed |
The large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
title_sort |
large-scale, long-term coupling of temperature, hydrology, and water isotopes |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland ice core |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland ice core |
op_relation |
Journal of Climate--0894-8755--1520-0442 articles:24579 doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 ark:/85065/d7pc35sn |
op_rights |
Copyright 202134 American Meteorological Society (AMS). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0563.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Climate |
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1 |
op_container_end_page |
51 |
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1797580512394477568 |