Solar and climate signals revealed by seasonal 10Be data from the NEEM ice core project for the neutron monitor period

Abstract

10Be in ice cores has been instrumental for reconstructing past changes in solar activity prior to direct observations. For a robust use of these records, it is pivotal to understand the 10Be transport and deposition. However, there are only few high-resolution seasonal 10Be data longer than one full solar cycle (11 years) that could enable a quantification of the influences of atmospheric circulation and deposition processes on the 10Be signal in ice. Here we present a seasonally resolved 10Be data set covering the neutron monitor period (1951–2002) from a firn core connected to the NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling) project. The results suggest that both summer and winter 10Be reflect the production signal induced by solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays. However, superimposed on this solar signal we find additional meteorologically driven influences on 10Be transport and deposition. We found that the tropopause pressure over 30°N represents an important factor influencing NEEM 10Be concentrations on seasonal and annual scales. 10Be deposited in summer also correlates significantly with the tropopause pressure over Greenland suggesting a direct contribution of stratospheric intrusions during summer to the 10Be deposition in Greenland. To correct for these transport/deposition influences, we apply a first-order correction to the 10Be data using a multi-linear regression model. The “climate-corrected” 10Be data shows a comparable skill for reconstructing production rate changes as the 10Be composite record from five different ice cores in Greenland. The results suggest that the correction approach can be a complementary method to the stacking to better isolate the production rate signal from the 10Be data when only limited data are available.