Pre-Observational Evolution of Surface Temperature in Romania as Inferred from Borehole Temperature Measurements

Abstract

Temperature data from nine boreholes in the Carpathian orogen in Romania were used to obtain information on the ground surface temperature history (GSTH) in the last 250 years. The temperature measurements were taken with a thermistor probe (sensitivity in the 10 mK range) using the stop-and-go technique, at 10 m intervals, in the depth range of 20–580 m. The least squares inverse modelling approach of Tarantola and Valette (J Geophys 50:159–170, 1982) was used to infer the GSTH. Long-term air temperature records available from the Romanian weather station network were used as a comparison term for the first 100–150 years of the GSTH, and as a forcing function in a POM-SAT model that combines borehole temperature profiles (BTPs) and meteorological time series (surface air temperature, SAT) to produce information on the so-called pre-observational mean (POM). Results from a global circulation model for the Romanian area are incorporated in the discussion as well.