Antarctic surface temperature and elevation during the Last Glacial Maximum

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Buizert, Christo, Fudge, T., Roberts, William, Steig, Eric, Sherriff-Tadano, Sam, Ritz, Catherine, Lefebvre, Eric, Edwards, Jon, Kawamura, Kenji, Oyabu, Ikumi, Motoyama, Hideaki, Kahle, Emma, Jones, Tyler, Abe-Ouchi, Ayako, Obase, Takashi, Martin, Carlos, Corr, Hugh, Severinghaus, Jeffrey, Beaudette, Ross, Epifanio, Jenna, Brook, Edward, Martin, Kaden, Chappellaz, Jérôme, Aoki, Shuji, Nakazawa, Takakiyo, Sowers, Todd, Alley, Richard, Ahn, Jinho, Sigl, Michael, Severi, Mirko, Dunbar, Nelia, Svensson, Anders, Fegyveresi, John, He, Chengfei, Liu, Zhengyu, Zhu, Jiang, Otto-Bliesner, Bette, Lipenkov, Vladimir, Kageyama, Masa, Schwander, Jakob
• Other Authors: Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Modélisation du climat (CLIM), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA))
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Antarctic; East Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03249154; https://hal.science/hal-03249154/document; https://hal.science/hal-03249154/file/buizert1.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd2897

International audience Water-stable isotopes in polar ice cores are a widely used temperature proxy in paleoclimate reconstruction, yet calibration remains challenging in East Antarctica. Here, we reconstruct the magnitude and spatial pattern of Last Glacial Maximum surface cooling in Antarctica using borehole thermometry and firn properties in seven ice cores. West Antarctic sites cooled ~10°C relative to the preindustrial period. East Antarctic sites show a range from ~4° to ~7°C cooling, which is consistent with the results of global climate models when the effects of topographic changes indicated with ice core air-content data are included, but less than those indicated with the use of water-stable isotopes calibrated against modern spatial gradients. An altered Antarctic temperature inversion during the glacial reconciles our estimates with water-isotope observations.