Late glacial–Holocene atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the northeast United States inferred from modern calibrated stable oxygen and carbon isotopes

Abstract

As global climate changes because of anthropogenic influences, it has become critical to better understand past climate and its various forcing mechanisms as a baseline for future comparison. To this end, we present a continental isotopic record from an 11.2-m-long wetland piston core sampled at 10‐50 yr resolution; the core was taken in the heavily populated, economically vibrant northeastern United States (adjacent to Fayetteville Green Lake) and spans 14,600‐3200 cal. yr B.P. We use a historically based correlation between d 18 Ocalcite obtained from individual varves in a box core from Fayetteville Green Lake and winter atmospheric circulation over the northeast United States to examine the way in which changes in winter circulation have influenced d 18 O in precipitation from 14,600 to 3200 cal. yr B.P. Our correlation analysis suggests that in periods during which the circumpolar westerlies are expanded, storms track more frequently from the Gulf of Mexico region, delivering precipitation with relatively high d 18 O values to the study site. By contrast, contracted westerlies result in more frequent low-d 18 Oprecipitation cross-continental storms. By using this relationship we model winter-vortex latitudes over the northeast United States for the prehistoric oxygen isotope record, focusing on millennial-scale