Pollen record of rapidly changing air trajectories to the North Pole

Abstract

Tracing modern atmospheric dynamics is important for constraining models used in past climate reconstruction. However, these models must be verified by modern observations. We present the rapid changeover of two different air trajectories to the North Pole determined by studying the long distance transport of pollen. Samples were collected on a manned floating capsule drifting southward on the sea ice from the North Pole in 2002. It was observed that an air mass at 3000 m altitude transported birch and pine pollen released in Western Europe during week 22 (May 27). Two weeks later, during week 24 (June 10), alder, birch and willow pollen from eastern Siberia reached the drifting station with an air mass at 1000 m altitude. These particular patterns support independent investigations of air trajectories in the Arctic, especially the transport of anthropogenic pollutants such as sulfate and nitrate.