Four Centuries of Climatic Variation Across the Tibetan Plateau from Ice-Core Accumulation and δ18O Records

AbstractLevoglucosan is a unique marker for biomass burning that can be transported in the atmosphere and preserved in archives such as ice cores. A new method to determine the concentrations of levoglucosan in Tibetan ice-core samples using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI/MS) was developed. Levoglucosan was separated from coeluting water-soluble organic compounds using a C18 column with a gradient program from 50% to 90% methanol in ultrapure water. An external standard calibration curve (R2 = 0.9958) was established by plotting the ion m/z 163 [M+H]+ peak area versus the amount of analyte. The repeatability ranges between 11% and 2% at a concentration around 10 and 150 ng mL−1. The limit of detection was 10 ng mL−1 and the limit of quantification was 40 ng mL−1. Levoglucosan concentrations ranged from 10 to 718 ng mL−1 in the Muztagh Ata ice core and from 10 to 93 ng mL−1 in the Tanggula ice core. These concentrations, up to 1000 times higher than those measured in samples from Antarctic and Greenland, showed the higher vulnerability of the Tibetan Plateau glaciers to biomass burning events.

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Variations in Air Temperature during the Last Century Revealed by delta18O in the Chongce Ice Core from the Tibetan Plateau

2012 2nd International Conference on Remote Sensing, Environment and Transportation Engineering ◽

10.1109/rsete.2012.6260804 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

ChongYi E ◽

YongJuan Sun ◽

Yong Wang ◽

GuangLiang Hou ◽

ChengYong Wu

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Air Temperature ◽

Ice Core ◽

The Tibetan Plateau

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Temperature variations over the past millennium on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by four ice cores

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756407782871305 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 362-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Tandong Yao ◽

Keqin Duan ◽

L.G. Thompson ◽

Ninglian Wang ◽

Lide Tian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

19Th Century ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

Ice Core ◽

Ice Cores ◽

Ice Age ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

The Past ◽

Northern Tibetan Plateau

AbstractTemperature variation on the Tibetan Plateau over the last 1000 years has been inferred using a composite δ18O record from four ice cores. Data from a new ice core recovered from the Puruogangri ice field in the central Tibetan Plateau are combined with those from three other cores (Dunde, Guliya and Dasuopu) recovered previously. The ice-core δ18O composite record indicates that the temperature change on the whole Tibetan Plateau is similar to that in the Northern Hemisphere on multi-decadal timescales except that there is no decreasing trend from AD 1000 to the late 19th century. The δ18O composite record from the northern Tibetan Plateau, however, indicates a cooling trend from AD 1000 to the late 19th century, which is more consistent with the Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction. The δ18O composite record reveals the existence of the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age (LIA) on the Tibetan Plateau. However, on the Tibetan Plateau the LIA is not the coldest period during the last millennium as in other regions in the Northern Hemisphere. The present study indicates that the 20th-century warming on the Tibetan Plateau is abrupt, and is warmer than at any time during the past 1000 years.

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Integration of Tibetan Plateau ice-core temperature records and the influence of atmospheric circulation on isotopic signals in the past century

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/j.yqres.2014.01.006 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 81 (3) ◽

pp. 520-530 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Xiaoxin Yang ◽

Tandong Yao ◽

Daniel Joswiak ◽

Ping Yao

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Atmospheric Circulation ◽

El Niño ◽

El Nino ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Ice Core ◽

Past Century ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

The Past ◽

Increasing Trends

AbstractTemperature signals in ice-core δ18O on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), particularly in the central and southern parts, continue to be debated because of the large scale of atmospheric circulation. This study presents ten ice-core δ18O records at an annual resolution, with four (Malan, Muztagata, Guliya, and Dunde) in the northern, three (Puruogangri, Geladaindong, Tanggula) in the central and three (Noijin Kangsang, Dasuopu, East Rongbuk) in the southern TP. Integration shows commonly increasing trends in δ18O in the past century, featuring the largest one in the northern, a moderate one in the central and the smallest one in the southern TP, which are all consistent with ground-based measurements of temperature. The influence of atmospheric circulation on isotopic signals in the past century was discussed through the analysis of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and of possible connections between sea surface temperature (SST) and the different increasing trends in both ice-core δ18O and temperature. Particularly, El Niño and the corresponding warm Bay of Bengal (BOB) SST enhance the TP ice-core isotopic enrichment, while La Niña, or corresponding cold BOB SST, causes depletion. This thus suggests a potential for reconstructing the ENSO history from the TP ice-core δ18O.

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Holocene climate variability archived in the Puruogangri ice cap on the central Tibetan Plateau

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756406781812357 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 61-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 89

Author(s):

Lonnie G. Thompson ◽

Yao Tandong ◽

Mary E. Davis ◽

Ellen Mosley-Thompson ◽

Tracy A. Mashiotta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Ice Core ◽

Ice Cores ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Climate History ◽

Ice Caps ◽

Ice Cap ◽

Monsoon System ◽

The Tropics ◽

Ice Core Records

AbstractTwo ice cores (118.4 and 214.7 m in length) were collected in 2000 from the Puruogangri ice cap in the center of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in a joint US-Chinese collaborative project. These cores yield paleoclimatic and environmental records extending through the Middle Holocene, and complement previous ice-core histories from the Dunde and Guliya ice caps in northeast and northwest Tibet, respectively, and Dasuopu glacier in the Himalaya. The high-resolution Puruogangri climate record since AD 1600 details regional temperature and moisture variability. The post-1920 period is characterized by above-average annual net balance, contemporaneous with the greatest 18O enrichment of the last 400 years, consistent with the isotopically inferred warming observed in other TP ice-core records. On longer timescales the aerosol history reveals large and abrupt events, one of which is dated ∼4.7 kyr BP and occurs close to the time of a drought that extended throughout the tropics and may have been associated with centuries-long weakening of the Asian/Indian/African monsoon system. The Puruogangri climate history, combined with the other TP ice-core records, has the potential to provide valuable information on variations in the strength of the monsoon across the TP during the Holocene.

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Snow accumulation rate on Qomolangma (Mount Everest), Himalaya: synchroneity with sites across the Tibetan Plateau on 50–100 year timescales

Journal of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/002214308784886126 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (185) ◽

pp. 343-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Susan Kaspari ◽

Roger LeB. Hooke ◽

Paul Andrew Mayewski ◽

Shichang Kang ◽

Shugui Hou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Accumulation Rate ◽

Ice Core ◽

Snow Accumulation ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Mount Everest ◽

Mountain Meteorology ◽

Annual Layer ◽

Decadal Scale ◽

The Mean

AbstractAnnual-layer thickness data, spanning AD 1534–2001, from an ice core from East Rongbuk Col on Qomolangma (Mount Everest, Himalaya) yield an age–depth profile that deviates systematically from a constant accumulation-rate analytical model. The profile clearly shows that the mean accumulation rate has changed every 50–100 years. A numerical model was developed to determine the magnitude of these multi-decadal-scale rates. The model was used to obtain a time series of annual accumulation. The mean annual accumulation rate decreased from ∼0.8 m ice equivalent in the 1500s to ∼0.3 m in the mid-1800s. From ∼1880 to ∼1970 the rate increased. However, it has decreased since ∼1970. Comparison with six other records from the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau shows that the changes in accumulation in East Rongbuk Col are broadly consistent with a regional pattern over much of the Plateau. This suggests that there may be an overarching mechanism controlling precipitation and mass balance over this area. However, a record from Dasuopu, only 125 km northwest of Qomolangma and 700 m higher than East Rongbuk Col, shows a maximum in accumulation during the 1800s, a time during which the East Rongbuk Col and Tibetan Plateau ice-core and tree-ring records show a minimum. This asynchroneity may be due to altitudinal or seasonal differences in monsoon versus westerly moisture sources or complex mountain meteorology.

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