Atmospheric dust transport to high-elevation Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, over the satellite era and implications for centennial scale ice core records of dust deposition

• Main Author: Henson, Kevin
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Atmospheric Aerosols; Climatology (excl. Climate Change Processes); Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified; Atmospheric dust transport; Antarctic ice cores; Large-scale atmospheric circulation; Large-scale climate patterns; Flexpart modeling; School: School of Geography; Environment and Earth Sciences; Unit: Antarctic Research Centre; 040699 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified; 040101 Atmospheric Aerosols; 040105 Climatology (excl. Climate Change Processes); 190503 Effects of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments (excl. social impacts); Degree Discipline: Physical Geography; Degree Level: Masters; Degree Name: Master of Science; Antarctic; Dee; Dronning Maud Land; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Antarctica; DML; E. Antarctica; ice core
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.20399592; https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Atmospheric_dust_transport_to_high-elevation_Dronning_Maud_Land_Antarctica_over_the_satellite_era_and_implications_for_centennial_scale_ice_core_records_of_dust_deposition/20399592

Deposition of aeolian mineral dust recorded in Antarctic ice cores is strongly tied to large-scale atmospheric circulation variability. This natural archive can be used to extend knowledge about atmospheric circulation variability in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) prior to the satellite era (1979-2017). Additionally, dust plays an important role in the climate system through cloud formation processes, the radiation budget, and as a micronutrient source for biological productivity in the Southern Ocean. Hence, investigating the drivers of Antarctic dust variability is useful for better understanding past and future changes to SH climate. This thesis investigates present-day dust transport to a high elevation ice core site in Dronning Maud Land (DML; 74°60′S, 0°6′E), Antarctica, where an anomalous increase in dust deposition is observed over the past century in a 1300-year ice core recently drilled as part of the Isotopic Constraints on Past Ozone Layer in Polar Ice (ISOL-ICE) program. This study aims to determine the potential source area (PSA) and atmospheric transport mechanism of dust deposited to high-elevation DML over the satellite era. Additionally, the implications of the findings for ice core dust records spanning the last millennium are also discussed. The specific objectives of this study are: 1) identify dominant atmospheric dust transport pathways to DML over the satellite era, 2) determine regional climatic controls of particle size distribution (PSD) at DML over the satellite era, and 3) contextualise the recent increase in dust deposition at DML relative to the last millennium. To achieve these three objectives, dust deposition to the ISOL-ICE ice core site over the satellite era is examined using dust dispersion modeling (Flexpart model; Pisso et al., 2019) and correlation analysis with a range of climate parameters, such as geopotential height, zonal and meridional winds, and precipitation, using the ERA-interim atmospheric reanalysis dataset (Dee et al., 2011). Flexpart is configured to run ...