Seasonal precipitation timing and ice core records

Journal Article · Fri Jul 14 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.269.5221.247· OSTI ID:181853

Charles, C D ^[1]; Rind, D ^[2]; Jouzel, J ^[3]

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1. Univ. of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
2. Goddard Inst. for Space Studies, New York, NY (United States)
3. Centre d`Etudes de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); and others

Commenting on our work with isotope tracers and the origin of moisture in general circulation model simulations suggest that changes in the seasonal distribution of precipitation may provide strong control on isotopic variability in Greenland ice cores. In principle, we agree with the thrust of their comment. In a broad sense, without consideration of specific processes, the seasonality effects discussed and the moisture source effects described in our report are two classes of the same general phenomenon: evaporation, distillation, and transport of isotopes over different temperature regimes. Although the analysis for Greenland precipitation over the last century suggests that seasonal effects are a significant component of interannual isotopic variability, general circulation model (GCMs) represent one of the few means of assessing the importance of this phenomenon for interpreting the isotopic record over glacial cycles. The GCM approach is important for understanding the relationship between {delta}{sup 18}O and temperature because (1) thermodynamic principles and analysis of modern isotopic data suggest that present-day spatial {delta}{sup 18}O-temperature correlations cannot be considered an exact surrogate for the temporal relationship between these variables (2) geographic isotopic variability-for example, the differences in isotopic values among ice cores-can best be examined with a three-dimensional mode. This short article goes on to explain the researchers` results and reasoning. 5 refs., 1 fig.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 181853
• Journal Information: Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 5221 Vol. 269; ISSN SCIEAS; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
DRILL CORES
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GREENLAND
ICE CAPS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS