Tree-Ring Evidence for Climatically Effective Volcanic Eruptions

1990 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis A. Scuderi
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Volcanic Events ◽  
Upper Timberline ◽  
Glacier Advance

AbstractRingwidth variations from temperature-sensitive upper timberline sites in the Sierra Nevada show a marked correspondence to the decadal pattern of volcanic sulfate aerosols recorded in a Greenland ice-core acidity profile and a significant negative growth response to individual explosive volcanic events. The appearance of single events in the mid-latitude tree-ring record, in connection with ice-core evidence from the arctic and historical records from the Mediterranean, indicates that the majority of these events represent climatically effective volcanic eruptions, producing temperature decreases on the order of 1°C for up to 2 yr after the initial eruption. Clusters of climatically effective volcanic events may serve as a trigger to glaciation and are consistently associated with lowered ringwidths and late-Holocene glacier advance in the Sierra Nevada. The tree-ring record strongly suggests forcing of solar radiation receipt and temperatures by increased volcanic aerosols, especially during the Recess Peak advances and Matthes (Little Ice Age) advances from 1400 to 1850 A.D. Intervals with an absence of significant volcanic aerosol production or historically documented eruptive activity correspond to intervals of significantly increased indexed ringwidth values, minimal numbers of severe annual negative ringwidth anomalies, and an absence of glacial deposits in the southern Sierra Nevada.

scholarly journals Cryptotephra from the Icelandic Veiðivötn 1477 CE eruption in a Greenland ice core: confirming the dating of 1450s CE volcanic events and assessing the eruption's climatic impact

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Abbott ◽  
Gill Plunkett ◽  
Christophe Corona ◽  
Nathan J. Chellman ◽  
Joseph R. McConnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Climatic Impact

Abstract. Volcanic eruptions are a key source of climatic variability and reconstructing their past impact can improve our understanding of the operation of the climate system and increase the accuracy of future climate projections. Two annually resolved and independently dated palaeoarchives – tree rings and polar ice cores – can be used in tandem to assess the timing, strength and climatic impact of volcanic eruptions over the past ~ 2500 years. The quantification of post-volcanic climate responses, however, has at times been hampered by differences between simulated and observed temperature responses that raised questions regarding the robustness of the chronologies of both archives. While many chronological mismatches have been resolved, the precise timing and climatic impact of one or more major sulphate emitting volcanic eruptions during the 1450s CE, including the largest atmospheric sulphate loading event in the last 700 years, has not been constrained. Here we explore this issue through a combination of tephrochronological evidence and high-resolution ice-core chemistry measurements from the TUNU2013 ice core. We identify tephra from the historically dated 1477 CE eruption of Veiðivötn-Bárðarbunga, Iceland, in direct association with a notable sulphate peak in TUNU2013 attributed to this event, confirming that it can be used as a reliable and precise time-marker. Using seasonal cycles in several chemical elements and 1477 CE as a fixed chronological point shows that ages of 1453 CE and 1458/59 CE can be attributed, with a high accuracy, to two notable sulphate peaks. This confirms the accuracy of the NS1-2011 Greenland ice-core chronology over the mid- to late 15th century and corroborate the findings of recent volcanic reconstructions from Greenland and Antarctica. Overall, this implies that large-scale Northern Hemisphere climatic cooling affecting tree-ring growth in 1453 CE was caused by a Northern Hemisphere volcanic eruption in 1452 CE and then a Southern Hemisphere eruption, previously assumed to have triggered the cooling, occurred later in 1458 CE. The direct attribution of the 1477 CE sulphate peak to the eruption of Veiðivötn, the most explosive from Iceland in the last 1200 years, also provides the opportunity to assess its climatic impact. A tree-ring based reconstruction of Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures shows a cooling of −0.35 °C in the aftermath of the eruption, the 356th coldest summer since 500 CE, a relatively weak and spatially incoherent climatic response in comparison to the less explosive but longer-lasting Icelandic Eldgjá 939 CE and Laki 1783 CE eruptions, that ranked as the 205th and 9th coldest summers respectively. In addition, the Veiðivötn 1477 CE eruption occurred around the inception of the Little Ice Age and could be used as a chronostratigraphic marker to constrain the phasing and spatial variability of climate changes over this transition if it can be traced into more regional palaeoclimatic archives.

scholarly journals A data assimilation approach to last millennium temperature field reconstruction using a limited high-sensitivity proxy network

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-64
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. King ◽  
Kevin J. Anchukaitis ◽  
Jessica E. Tierney ◽  
Gregory J. Hakim ◽  
Julien Emile-Geay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Spatial Uncertainty ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates

AbstractWe use theNorthern Hemisphere Tree-RingNetwork Development (NTREND) tree-ring database to examine the effects of using a small, highly-sensitive proxy network for paleotemperature data assimilation over the last millennium. We first evaluate our methods using pseudo-proxy experiments. These indicate that spatial assimilations using this network are skillful in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere and improve on previous NTREND reconstructions based on Point-by-Point regression. We also find our method is sensitive to climate model biases when the number of sites becomes small. Based on these experiments, we then assimilate the real NTREND network. To quantify model prior uncertainty, we produce 10 separate reconstructions, each assimilating a different climate model. These reconstructions are most dissimilar prior to 1100 CE, when the network becomes sparse, but show greater consistency as the network grows. Temporal variability is also underestimated before 1100 CE. Our assimilation method produces spatial uncertainty estimates and these identify treeline North America and eastern Siberia as regions that would most benefit from development of new millennial-length temperature-sensitive tree-ring records. We compare our multi-model mean reconstruction to five existing paleo-temperature products to examine the range of reconstructed responses to radiative forcing. We find substantial differences in the spatial patterns and magnitudes of reconstructed responses to volcanic eruptions and in the transition between the Medieval epoch and Little Ice Age. These extant uncertainties call for the development of a paleoclimate reconstruction intercomparison framework for systematically examining the consequences of proxy network composition and reconstruction methodology and for continued expansion of tree-ring proxy networks.

scholarly journals Cryptotephra from the Icelandic Veiðivötn 1477 CE eruption in a Greenland ice core: confirming the dating of volcanic events in the 1450s CE and assessing the eruption's climatic impact

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 565-585
Author(s):  
Peter M. Abbott ◽  
Gill Plunkett ◽  
Christophe Corona ◽  
Nathan J. Chellman ◽  
Joseph R. McConnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Climatic Impact ◽  
Volcanic System

Abstract. Volcanic eruptions are a key source of climatic variability, and reconstructing their past impact can improve our understanding of the operation of the climate system and increase the accuracy of future climate projections. Two annually resolved and independently dated palaeoarchives – tree rings and polar ice cores – can be used in tandem to assess the timing, strength and climatic impact of volcanic eruptions over the past ∼ 2500 years. The quantification of post-volcanic climate responses, however, has at times been hampered by differences between simulated and observed temperature responses that raised questions regarding the robustness of the chronologies of both archives. While many chronological mismatches have been resolved, the precise timing and climatic impact of two major sulfate-emitting volcanic eruptions during the 1450s CE, including the largest atmospheric sulfate-loading event in the last 700 years, have not been constrained. Here we explore this issue through a combination of tephrochronological evidence and high-resolution ice-core chemistry measurements from a Greenland ice core, the TUNU2013 record. We identify tephra from the historically dated 1477 CE eruption of the Icelandic Veiðivötn–Bárðarbunga volcanic system in direct association with a notable sulfate peak in TUNU2013 attributed to this event, confirming that this peak can be used as a reliable and precise time marker. Using seasonal cycles in several chemical elements and 1477 CE as a fixed chronological point shows that ages of 1453 CE and 1458 CE can be attributed, with high precision, to the start of two other notable sulfate peaks. This confirms the accuracy of a recent Greenland ice-core chronology over the middle to late 15th century and corroborates the findings of recent volcanic reconstructions from Greenland and Antarctica. Overall, this implies that large-scale Northern Hemisphere climatic cooling affecting tree-ring growth in 1453 CE was caused by a Northern Hemisphere volcanic eruption in 1452 or early 1453 CE, and then a Southern Hemisphere eruption, previously assumed to have triggered the cooling, occurred later in 1457 or 1458 CE. The direct attribution of the 1477 CE sulfate peak to the eruption of Veiðivötn, one of the most explosive from Iceland in the last 1200 years, also provides the opportunity to assess the eruption's climatic impact. A tree-ring-based reconstruction of Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures shows a cooling in the aftermath of the eruption of −0.35 ∘C relative to a 1961–1990 CE reference period and −0.1 ∘C relative to the 30-year period around the event, as well as a relatively weak and spatially incoherent climatic response in comparison to the less explosive but longer-lasting Icelandic Eldgjá 939 CE and Laki 1783 CE eruptions. In addition, the Veiðivötn 1477 CE eruption occurred around the inception of the Little Ice Age and could be used as a chronostratigraphic marker to constrain the phasing and spatial variability of climate changes over this transition if it can be traced in more regional palaeoclimatic archives.

Bristlecone pine tree rings and volcanic eruptions over the last 5000 yr

2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Salzer ◽  
Malcolm K. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Pine Tree ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
Pinus Longaeva ◽  
Bristlecone Pine ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
Pinus Aristata

AbstractMany years of low growth identified in a western USA regional chronology of upper forest border bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva and Pinus aristata) over the last 5000 yr coincide with known large explosive volcanic eruptions and/or ice core signals of past eruptions. Over the last millennium the agreement between the tree-ring data and volcano/ice-core data is high: years of ring-width minima can be matched with known volcanic eruptions or ice-core volcanic signals in 86% of cases. In previous millennia, while there is substantial concurrence, the agreement decreases with increasing antiquity. Many of the bristlecone pine ring-width minima occurred at the same time as ring-width minima in high latitude trees from northwestern Siberia and/or northern Finland over the past 4000–5000 yr, suggesting climatically-effective events of at least hemispheric scale. In contrast with the ice-core records, the agreement between widely separated tree-ring records does not decrease with increasing antiquity. These data suggest specific intervals when the climate system was or was not particularly sensitive enough to volcanic forcing to affect the trees, and they augment the ice core record in a number of ways: by providing confirmation from an alternative proxy record for volcanic signals, by suggesting alternative dates for eruptions, and by adding to the list of years when volcanic events of global significance were likely, including the mid-2nd-millennium BC eruption of Thera.

scholarly journals Tree-ring radiocarbon reveals reduced solar activity during Younger Dryas cooling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Sookdeo ◽  
Bernd Kromer ◽  
Florian Adolphi ◽  
Jürg Beer ◽  
Nicolas Brehm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Activity ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The North ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Clear Sign

<p>The Younger Dryas stadial (YD) was a return to glacial-like conditions in the North Atlantic region that interrupted deglacial warming around 12900 cal BP (before 1950 AD). Terrestrial and marine records suggest this event was initiated by the interruption of deep-water formation arising from North American freshwater runoff, but the causes of the millennia-long duration remain unclear. To investigate the solar activity, a possible YD driver, we exploit the cosmic production signals of tree-ring radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) and ice-core beryllium-10 (<sup>10</sup>Be). Here we present the highest temporally resolved dataset of <sup>14</sup>C measurements (n = 1558) derived from European tree rings that have been accurately extended back to 14226 cal BP (±8, 2-σ), allowing precise alignment of ice-core records across this period. We identify a substantial increase in <sup>14</sup>C and <sup>10</sup>Be production starting at 12780 cal BP is comparable in magnitude to the historic Little Ice Age, being a clear sign of grand solar minima. We hypothesize the timing of the grand solar minima provides a significant amplifying factor leading to the harsh sustained glacial-like conditions seen in the YD.</p>

Tephra in the Greenland Ice cores: Insights into Icelandic volcano-climate impacts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imogen Gabriel ◽  
Gill Plunkett ◽  
Peter Abbott ◽  
Bergrún Óladóttir ◽  
Joseph McConnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Geochemical Analysis ◽  
Volcanic Events ◽  
Societal Impacts ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ice Core Records

<p>Volcanic eruptions are considered as one of the primary natural drivers for changes in the global climate system and understanding the impact of past eruptions on the climate is integral to adopt appropriate responses towards future volcanic eruptions.</p><p>The Greenland ice core records are dominated by Icelandic eruptions, with several volcanic systems (Katla, Hekla, Bárðarbunga-Veiðivötn and Grimsvötn) being highly active throughout the Holocene. A notable period of increased Icelandic volcanic activity occurred between 500-1250 AD and coincided with climatic changes in the North Atlantic region which may have facilitated the Viking settlement of Greenland and Iceland. However, a number of these volcanic events are poorly constrained (duration and magnitude). Consequently, the Greenland ice cores offer the opportunity to reliably reconstruct past Icelandic volcanism (duration, magnitude and frequency) due to their high-resolution, the proximity of Iceland to Greenland and subsequent increased likelihood of volcanic fallout deposits (tephra particles and sulphur aerosols) being preserved. However, both the high frequency of eruptions between 500-1250 AD and the geochemical similarity of Iceland’s volcanic centres present challenges in making the required robust geochemical correlations between the source volcano and the ice core records and ultimately reliably assessing the climatic-societal impacts of these eruptions.</p><p>To address this, we use two Greenland ice core records (TUNU2013 and B19) and undertake geochemical analysis on tephra from the volcanic events in the selected time window which have been detected and sampled using novel techniques (insoluble particle peaks and sulphur acidity peaks). Further geochemical analysis of proximal material enables robust correlations to be made between the events in the ice core records and their volcanic centres. The high-resolution of these polar archives provides a precise age for the event and when utilised alongside other proxies (i.e. sulphur aerosols), both the duration and magnitude of these eruptions can be constrained, and the climatic-societal impacts of these eruptions reliably assessed.</p>

scholarly journals Episodic Neoglacial expansion and rapid 20th century retreat of a small ice cap on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada, and modeled temperature change

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1527-1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Pendleton ◽  
Gifford H. Miller ◽  
Robert A. Anderson ◽  
Sarah E. Crump ◽  
Yafang Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Change ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Climate Model Simulations ◽  
Glacier Advance

Abstract. Records of Neoglacial glacier activity in the Arctic constructed from moraines are often incomplete due to a preservation bias toward the most extensive advance, often the Little Ice Age. Recent warming in the Arctic has caused extensive retreat of glaciers over the past several decades, exposing preserved landscapes complete with in situ tundra plants previously entombed by ice. The radiocarbon ages of these plants define the timing of snowline depression and glacier advance across the site, in response to local summer cooling. Erosion rapidly removes most dead plants that have been recently exposed by ice retreat, but where erosive processes are unusually weak, dead plants may remain preserved on the landscape for decades. In such settings, a transect of plant radiocarbon ages can be used to construct a near-continuous chronology of past ice margin advance. Here we present radiocarbon dates from the first such transect on Baffin Island, which directly dates the advance of a small ice cap over the past two millennia. The nature of ice expansion between 20 BCE and ∼ 1000 CE is still uncertain, but episodic advances at ∼ 1000 CE, ∼ 1200, and  ∼ 1500 led to the maximum Neoglacial dimensions ~ 1900 CE. We employ a two-dimensional numerical glacier model calibrated using the plant radiocarbon ages ice margin chronology to assess the sensitivity of the ice cap to temperature change. Model experiments show that at least ∼ 0.44 °C of cooling over the past 2 kyr is required for the ice cap to reach its 1900 CE margin, and that the period from ∼ 1000 to 1900 CE must have been at least 0.25° C cooler than the previous millennium, results that agree with regional temperature reconstructions and climate model simulations. However, significant warming since 1900 CE is required to explain retreat to its present position, and, at the same rate of warming, the ice cap will disappear before 2100 CE.

Pattern and Forcing of Northern Hemisphere Glacier Variations During the Last Millennium

1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Phase Lag ◽  
Mountain Glacier ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Glacier Fluctuations ◽  
Decadal Scale

Time series depicting mountain glacier fluctuations in the Alps display generally similar patterns over the last two centuries, as do chronologies of glacier variations for the same interval from elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere. Episodes of glacier advance consistently are associated with intervals of high average volcanic aerosol production, as inferred from acidity variations in a Greenland ice core. Advances occur whenever acidity levels rise sharply from background values to reach concentrations ≥1.2 μequiv H+/kg above background. A phase lag of about 10–15 yr, equivalent to reported response lags of Alpine glacier termini, separates the beginning of acidity increases from the beginning of subsequent ice advances. A similar relationship, but based on limited and less-reliable historical data and on lichenometric ages, is found for the preceding 2 centuries. Calibrated radiocarbon dates related to advances of non-calving and non-surging glaciers during the earlier part of the Little Ice Age display a comparable consistent pattern. An interval of reduced acidity values between about 1090 and 1230 A.D. correlates with a time of inferred glacier contraction during the Medieval Optimum. The observed close relation between Noothern Hemisphere glacier fluctuations and variations in Greenland ice-core acidity suggests that sulfur-rich aerosols generated by volcanic eruptions are a primary forcing mechanism of glacier fluctuations, and therefore of climate, on a decadal scale. The amount of surface cooling attributable to individual large eruptions or to episodes of eruptions is simlar to the probable average temperature reduction during culminations of Little Ice Age alacier advances (ca. 0.5°–1.2°C), as inferred from depression of equilibrium-line altitudes.

scholarly journals A 200 year sub-annual record of sulfate in West Antarctica, from 16 ice cores

2004 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 545-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dixon ◽  
Paul A. Mayewski ◽  
Susan Kaspari ◽  
Sharon Sneed ◽  
Mike Handley
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Volcanic Events ◽  
Climate Transition ◽  
Better Than

AbstractSixteen high-resolution ice-core records from West Antarctica and South Pole are used to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of sulfate for the last 200 years. The preservation of seasonal layers throughout the length of each record results in a dating accuracy of better than 1 year based on known global-scale volcanic events. A dual transport source for West Antarctic sea-salt (ss) SO42– and excess (xs) SO42– is observed: lower-tropospheric for areas below 1000m elevation and mid-/upper-tropospheric/stratospheric for areas located above 1000 m. Our xsSO42– records with volcanic peaks removed do not display any evidence of an anthropogenic impact on West Antarctic SO42– concentrations but do reveal that a major climate transition takes place over West Antarctica at ∼1940. Global-scale volcanic eruptions appear as significant peaks in the robust-spline residual xsSO42– records from sites located above 1000m elevation but do not appear in the residual records from sites located below 1000 m.

scholarly journals Climate Change Detection and Attribution using observed and simulated Tree-Ring Width

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Franke ◽  
Michael Neil Evans ◽  
Andrew Schurer ◽  
Gabriele Clarissa Hegerl
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Tree Ring Width ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Detection And Attribution ◽  
Climate Simulations ◽  
First Time

Abstract. The detection and attribution (D&A) of paleoclimatic change to external radiative forcing relies on regression of statistical reconstructions on simulations. However, this procedure may be biased by assumptions of stationarity and univariate linear response of the underlying paleoclimatic observations. Here we perform a D&A study via regression of tree ring width (TRW) observations on TRW simulations which are forward modeled from climate simulations. Temperature and moisture-sensitive TRW simulations show distinct patterns in time and space. Temperature-sensitive TRW observations and simulations are significantly correlated for northern hemisphere averages, and their variation is attributed most closely to volcanically forced simulations. In decadally smoothed temporal fingerprints, we find the observed responses to be significantly larger and/or more persistent than the simulated responses. The pattern of simulated TRW of moisture-limited trees is consistent with the observed anomalies in the two years following major volcanic eruptions. We can for the first time attribute this spatiotemporal fingerprint in moisture limited tree-ring records to volcanic forcing. These results suggest that use of nonlinear and multivariate proxy system models in paleoclimatic detection and attribution studies may permit more realistic, spatially resolved and multivariate fingerprint detection studies, and evaluation of the climate sensitivity to external radiative forcing, than has previously been possible.

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