Abstract
Abstract. In order to investigate the climate variability in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region, this paper focuses on the relationship between stable isotope content of precipitation and firn, and main meteorological variables (air temperature, relative humidity, sea surface temperature, and sea ice extent). Between 2008 and 2010, we collected precipitation samples and retrieved firn cores from several key sites in this region. We conclude that the deuterium excess oscillation represents a robust indicator of the meteorological variability on a seasonal to sub-seasonal scale. Low absolute deuterium excess values and the synchronous variation of both deuterium excess and air temperature imply that the evaporation of moisture occurs in the adjacent Southern Ocean. The δ18O-air temperature relationship is complicated and significant only at a (multi)seasonal scale. Backward trajectory calculations show that air-parcels arriving at the region during precipitation events predominantly originate at the South Pacific Ocean and Bellingshausen Sea. These investigations will be used as a calibration for ongoing and future research in the area, suggesting that appropriate locations for future ice core research are located above 600 m a.s.l. We selected the Plateau Laclavere, Antarctic Peninsula as the most promising site for a deeper drilling campaign.
Highlights
It is well known that Antarctica plays a key role in the earth’s climate regulation
Our results demonstrate that the combination of stable water isotope analyses with different meteorological data sets offer a valuable proxy for paleo-climate reconstruction in the north Antarctic Peninsula region
Isotope analysis (δ18O and δD) of precipitation samples collected in a daily schedule during 14 months (2008 to 2009) from Frei and O’Higgins stations at the northern Antarctic Peninsula, highly reflect the meteorological variability of the region
Summary
The influence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current on the ocean and atmosphere in the Southern Hemisphere demonstrates the strong interconnection of the climate dynamics (White and Peterson, 1996). The warming rate of 0.082 ◦C decade−1 as a mean value for whole Antarctica (Chapman and Walsh, 2007) is close to the rate for the Southern Hemisphere warming (IPCC, 2007). The strong atmospheric warming detected over West Antarctica (0.14 ◦C decade−1), especially over the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) (0.4 ◦C decade−1), has no counterpart in any other region of the world (Vaughan et al, 2003; Turner et al, 2005, 2009; Steig et al, 2009). Since the temperature trend seems to be at least stabilized or decreased (Turner et al, 2005; Chapman and Walsh, 2007)
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