Abundant climatic information in water stable isotope record from a maritime glacier on southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Climatic significance of ice core stable isotope record in the Himalayas and southern Tibetan Plateau (TP), where the climate is alternately influenced by Indian summer monsoon and mid-latitude westerlies, is still debated. A newly drilled Zuoqiupu ice core from a temperate maritime glacier on the southeastern TP covering 1942–2011 is investigated in terms of the relationships between δ18O and climate parameters. Distinct seasonal variation of δ18O is observed due to high precipitation amount in this area. Thus the monsoon (June to September) and non-monsoon (October to May) δ18O records are reconstructed, respectively. The temperature effect is identified in the annual δ18O record, which is predominantly contributed by temperature control on the non-monsoon precipitation δ18O record. Conversely, the negative correlation between annual δ18O record and precipitation amount over part of Northeast India is mostly contributed by the monsoon precipitation δ18O record. The variation of monsoon δ18O record is greatly impacted by the Indian summer monsoon strength, while that of non-monsoon δ18O record is potentially associated with the mid-latitude westerly activity. The relationship between Zuoqiupu δ18O record and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is found to be inconsistent before and after the climate shift of 1976/1977. In summer monsoon season, the role of SST in the monsoon δ18O record is more important in eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean and tropical Indian Ocean before and after the shift, respectively. In non-monsoon season, however, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation has a negative impact before but positive impact after the climate shift on the non-monsoon δ18O record.