1. SE‐Dome II Ice Core Dating With Half‐Year Precision: Increasing Melting Events From 1799 to 2020 in Southeastern Greenland.
- Author
-
Kawakami, Kaoru, Iizuka, Yoshinori, Sasage, Mahiro, Matsumoto, Mai, Saito, Takeshi, Hori, Akira, Ishino, Sakiko, Fujita, Shuji, Fujita, Koji, Takasugi, Keita, Hatakeyama, Takumi, Hamamoto, Saaya, Watari, Akihisa, Esashi, Nao, Otsuka, Miu, Uemura, Ryu, Horiuchi, Kazuho, Minowa, Masahiro, Hattori, Shohei, and Aoki, Teruo
- Subjects
ICE cores ,GREENLAND ice ,MELTING ,ICE sheets ,SNOW accumulation - Abstract
Arctic warming has accelerated surface melting even in the highland areas of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). Understanding the relationship between climate and surface melting is essential for improving the estimates of ice‐sheet mass loss due to warming. Here we analyze a 250 m‐long ice core from the southeastern dome of GrIS (SE‐Dome site; 67°19′17″ N, 36°47′03″ W, 3,161 m a.s.l.), where the annual mean temperature is −20.9°C and the accumulation rate is high and there is a large discrepancy among climate models regarding snow accumulation estimates. A time scale was established for 1799–2020 with a half‐year uncertainty using annual counting of H2O2 concentration and five time horizons determined by electrical conductivity, melt events, and tritium concentration. The annual accumulation rate from the ice core shows no significant trend over 221 years and has an average of 1.04 ± 0.20 m w.e. year−1. In contrast, the frequency and thickness of refrozen melt layer (ML) have increased over 221 years, and are synchronized with temperature changes in the Arctic. The thickness of MLs correlates positively with the time‐integrated summer temperature anomaly using a reanalysis of air temperature. The in‐situ accumulation records in the southeastern GrIS provide an important basis for correcting reanalysis data such as ERA5, which in turn are valuable for improving regional climate models. Plain Language Summary: In recent years, Arctic temperatures have been increasing faster than global temperatures. In the inland Greenland ice sheet (GrIS), the surface snow melts on warm days, then the meltwater percolates in the snowpack and refreezes into melt layers (MLs). Here we describe an ice core, collected from the southeastern GrIS, which contains records of precipitation and MLs from 1799 to 2020. We then compare these results with the climatic data. The annual precipitation rate obtained from the ice core shows neither a decrease nor an increase over 221 years, suggesting no significant trend in the southeastern region. On the other hand, with Arctic warming, the ML thickness per year has increased through the 19th–21st centuries. In addition, there is a positive correlation between ML thickness and summer temperature. We conclude that the annual precipitation rate in southeastern GrIS is constant regardless of Arctic warming and the ice core is favorable for reconstructing environmental records from the pre‐industrial era to the present. Key Points: From an ice core in the southeastern Greenland ice sheet, we establish a time scale spanning 1799–2020 with a half‐year uncertaintyOver 221 years, the annual accumulation rate shows no significant trend, while the melt layer thickness has increased with Arctic warmingThe in‐situ accumulation records provide an important basis for correcting reanalysis data, which in turn are valuable for improving models [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF