Altitude of atmospheric tracer transport towards Antarctica in present and glacial climate

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Krinner, Gerhard, Petit, Jean-Robert, Delmonte, B.
• Other Authors: CLIPS, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e del Territorio (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milan (UNIMI), European Project: 39423,FP6-SUSTDEV,EPICA-MIS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Queen Maud Land; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00420834; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.06.020

International audience The preferential altitude of transport of continental tracers towards Antarctica under present and Last Glacial Maximum (21 kyr BP) conditions is analysed using an atmospheric general circulation model with idealized tracers which are emitted at the surface of Australia and South America. It is shown that the difference between the preferential transport altitude of Australian and South American tracers is similar in glacial and interglacial climates. Australian tracers arriving in Antarctica are consistently transported at higher altitudes than tracers emitted in South America. The frequency of low-level transport is stronger at the LGM than at present, reflecting a more vigorous atmospheric circulation at the LGM as a consequence of increased baroclinicity. While the spatial patterns of the total tracer concentrations at the Antarctic surface differ for Australian and South American tracers, with the regions of maximum surface concentration being located to the south-east of the respective tracer sources, the spatial distribution of the part advected via upper atmospheric levels is very similar for the Australian and South American tracers, with a maximum over Queen Maud Land. The simulated changes in transport characteristics cannot explain observed glacial to interglacial variations of dust size spectra which have been interpreted as indicators of the relative intensity of upper and lower level atmospheric dust transport to Antarctica.