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mean annual accumulation rates of 0.200, 0.204, and 0.221 mweq a 1 , respectively. Small-scale spatial variability (SSV) was determined using an analysis of variance of accumulation in the ice core array, thereby quantifying the uncertainty in individual accumulation records. Results indicate that the spatial variability was 0.030 mweq a 1 ,o r approximately 15% of the average annual accumulation. An accumulation record representative of the WAIS Divide local area over recent centuries was developed using a principal component analysis to identify the coherent accumulation signal. The WAIS Divide local record exhibited 14% interannual variability (1 standard deviation of the mean) with the SSV reduced to 0.017 mweq a 1 . Correlations of the WAIS Divide local accumulation record with atmospheric indices (e.g., Antarctic Oscillation) exhibited periods when the records oscillate in and out of phase. Thus, reconstructing local and global atmospheric indices from WAIS Divide accumulation records over recent centuries may prove problematic.

[1] High-resolution trace element records from polar ice cores are fundamental to identifying spatial and temporal variability in dust and sea salt aerosols. Here, we developed high temporal resolution glaciochemical records over recent centuries from an array of seven recently collected Greenland ice cores. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to assess apportionment of trace elements between three unique sources, which were identified as proxies of carbonate dust, aluminous dust, and sea salt. The three PMF factors agree well with literature values and represent the first time carbonate and aluminous dust sources have been quantifiably differentiated using high-resolution glaciochemistry. The concentrations of all three sources varied with ice core site. However, the large array of ice cores provided a regional-scale understanding of the sources and magnitude of dust and sea salt impurities deposited on the Greenland ice sheet. At the regional level, all three sources varied on seasonal, annual, and multiyear timescales. The seasonal deposition of sea salt impurities reached a maximum in the winter, followed by spring peaks of carbonate and aluminous dust. Over the 331 year composite record, only aluminous dust exhibited a long-term increasing trend that peaked in the 1930s and was followed by a 20% decline in recent decades.

Black carbon (BC) from biomass and fossil fuel combustion alters chemical and physical properties of the atmosphere and snow albedo, yet little is known about its emission or deposition histories. Measurements of BC, vanillic acid, and non–sea-salt sulfur in ice cores indicate that sources and concentrations of BC in Greenland precipitation varied greatly since 1788 as a result of boreal forest fires and industrial activities. Beginning about 1850, industrial emissions resulted in a sevenfold increase in ice-core BC concentrations, with most change occurring in winter. BC concentrations after about 1951 were lower but increasing. At its maximum from 1906 to 1910, estimated surface climate forcing in early summer from BC in Arctic snow was about 3 watts per square meter, which is eight times the typical preindustrial forcing value.

[1] Accurate accumulation records are fundamental to understanding mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet. Ice cores can provide multicentury, high-resolution ground-based point estimates of water accumulation. In 2003 and 2004, four new ice cores were collected in the central western (D4 and D5) and Summit (Sandy and Katie) regions of Greenland. Annual layer counting based on multiple glaciochemical parameters (primarily hydrogen peroxide, sea salt, and dust proxies) was used to date the ice cores, resulting in annual dating. The bottom depth ages for D4, D5, Sandy, and Katie were estimated at 1738, 1673, 1844, and 1934 A.D., with mean annual accumulation rates of 41.4, 35.2, 22.4, and 22.4 cmweq yr−1, respectively. These new records were in good agreement with previous accumulation maps and four previously published records from nearby multicentury ice cores. Spatial variability was quantified through an analysis of variance, thereby allowing for more meaningful comparisons to atmospheric processes. More regionally representative accumulation records were constructed for the central western and Summit regions spanning recent centuries using a principle component analysis of both the new and previously reported ice core measurements. These regional records exhibited 6–7% interannual variability (1 standard deviation of the mean) and had lower spatial variability uncertainties than individual accumulation records. Correlations indicate that ∼20% of the variance in the central western region was explained by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and suggests that an array of more northern ice cores may correlate more closely with NAO.

Crustal dust in the atmosphere impacts Earth's radiative forcing directly by modifying the radiation budget and affecting cloud nucleation and optical properties, and indirectly through ocean fertilization, which alters carbon sequestration. Increased dust in the atmosphere has been linked to decreased global air temperature in past ice core studies of glacial to interglacial transitions. We present a continuous ice core record of aluminum deposition during recent centuries in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, the most rapidly warming region of the Southern Hemisphere; such a record has not been reported previously. This record shows that aluminosilicate dust deposition more than doubled during the 20th century, coincident with the approximately 1 degrees C Southern Hemisphere warming: a pattern in parallel with increasing air temperatures, decreasing relative humidity, and widespread desertification in Patagonia and northern Argentina. These results have far-reaching implications for understanding the forces driving dust generation and impacts of changing dust levels on climate both in the recent past and future.