An 80-year summer temperature history from the Xiao Dongkemadi ice core in the central Tibetan Plateau and its association with atmospheric circulation

Abstract. Stable oxygen isotopic records in ice cores provide valuable information about past temperature, especially for regions with scarce instrumental measurements. This paper presents the δ18O result of an ice core drilled to bedrock from Mt. Zangser Kangri (ZK), a remote area on the northern Tibetan Plateau (TP). We reconstructed the temperature series for 1951–2008 from the δ18O records. In addition, we combined the ZK δ18O records with those from three other ice cores in the northern TP (Muztagata, Puruogangri, and Geladaindong) to reconstruct a regional temperature history for the period 1951–2002 (RTNTP). The RTNTP showed significant warming at 0.51 ± 0.07 °C (10 yr)−1 since 1970, a higher rate than the trend of instrumental records of the northern TP (0.43 ± 0.08 °C (10 yr)−1) and the global temperature trend (0.27 ± 0.03°C (10 yr)−1) at the same time. In addition, the ZK temperature record, with extra length until 2008, seems to suggest that the rapid elevation-dependent warming continued for this region during the last decade, when the mean global temperature showed very little change. This could provide insights into the behavior of the recent warming hiatus at higher elevations, where instrumental climate records are lacking.

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An ice-core record of vegetation and climate changes in the central Tibetan Plateau during the last 550 years

Chinese Science Bulletin ◽

10.1007/s11434-010-0017-6 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 55 (12) ◽

pp. 1169-1177 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Bao Yang ◽

LingYu Tang ◽

ChunHai Li ◽

YaJun Shao ◽

ShiCheng Tao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Ice Core ◽

Central Tibetan Plateau ◽

Ice Core Record ◽

Vegetation And Climate

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Precipitation record since AD 1600 from ice cores on the central Tibetan Plateau

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-4-175-2008 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 175-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

T. Yao ◽

K. Duan ◽

B. Xu ◽

N. Wang ◽

X. Guo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Ice Core ◽

Ice Cores ◽

The North ◽

Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽

Central Tibetan Plateau ◽

Precipitation Record ◽

Ice Field ◽

The 19Th Century

Abstract. Lack of reliable long-term precipitation record from the northern Tibetan Plateau has constrained our understanding of precipitation variations in this region. We drilled an ice core on the Puruogangri Ice Field in the central Tibetan Plateau in 2000 to reveal the precipitation variations. The well dated part of the core extends back to AD 1600, allowing us to construct a 400-year annual accumulation record. This record shows that the central Tibetan plateau experienced a drier period with an average annual precipitation of ~300 mm in the 19th century, compared to ~450 mm in the wetter periods during 1700–1780 and the 20th century. This pattern agrees with precipitation reconstructions from the Dunde and Guliya ice cores on the northern Plateau but differs from that found in the Dasuopu ice cores from the southern Plateau The north-south contrasts in precipitation reconstruction reveals difference in moisture origin between the south Tibetan Plateau dominated by the Asian monsoon and the north Tibetan Plateau dominated by the continental recycling and the westerlies.

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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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