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

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 362-366 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Variability of summer humidity during the past 800 years on the eastern Tibetan Plateau inferred from δ<sup>18</sup>O of tree-ring cellulose

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 3327-3356 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wernicke ◽  
J. Grießinger ◽  
P. Hochreuther ◽  
A. Bräuning
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Summer Season ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Spatial Correlations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North

Abstract. We present an 800 years long δ18O chronology from the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The chronology dates back to 1193 AD and was sampled in 1996 AD from living Juniperus tibetica trees. The chronology is unique for eastern Tibet and provides a reliable archive for hydroclimatic reconstructions. Highly significant correlations were obtained with air moisture (relative humidity, vapour pressure and precipitation) during the summer season. We applied a linear transfer model to reconstruct the summer season relative humidity variation over the past 800 years. We identified more moist conditions at the termination of the Medieval Warm Period, an oscillating air humidity around the mean during the Little Ice Age and a sudden decrease of relative humidity since the 1870s. The late 19th century humidity decrease is in good accordance with several multiproxy hydroclimate reconstructions for south Tibet. On the other hand, since the end of the 19th century strong evidences for an increase in humidity on the northern TP is exhibited. Spatial correlation analysis with the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO) and the sea surface temperature (SST) of Niño region 3.4 reveal a weak and nonstationary relationship to the δ18O chronology. Instead, spatial correlations expose a dominating convective influence to the relative humidity reconstruction. Furthermore, wavelength analysis reveal good agreements between the significant cyclicities in our δ18O chronology and several moisture sensitive proxy archives.

scholarly journals Significant recent warming over the northern Tibetan Plateau from ice core <i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O records

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. An ◽  
S. Hou ◽  
W. Zhang ◽  
Y. Wang ◽  
Y. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Global Temperature ◽  
Temperature History ◽  
Temperature Record ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Recent Warming ◽  
Warming Hiatus ◽  
Instrumental Records

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.

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

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals The Ross Sea Dipole – temperature, snow accumulation and sea ice variability in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica, over the past 2700 years

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. N. Bertler ◽  
Howard Conway ◽  
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen ◽  
Daniel B. Emanuelsson ◽  
Mai Winstrup ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
Isotopic Enrichment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Western Ross Sea

Abstract. High-resolution, well-dated climate archives provide an opportunity to investigate the dynamic interactions of climate patterns relevant for future projections. Here, we present data from a new, annually dated ice core record from the eastern Ross Sea, named the Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) ice core. Comparison of this record with climate reanalysis data for the 1979–2012 interval shows that RICE reliably captures temperature and snow precipitation variability in the region. Trends over the past 2700 years in RICE are shown to be distinct from those in West Antarctica and the western Ross Sea captured by other ice cores. For most of this interval, the eastern Ross Sea was warming (or showing isotopic enrichment for other reasons), with increased snow accumulation and perhaps decreased sea ice concentration. However, West Antarctica cooled and the western Ross Sea showed no significant isotope temperature trend. This pattern here is referred to as the Ross Sea Dipole. Notably, during the Little Ice Age, West Antarctica and the western Ross Sea experienced colder than average temperatures, while the eastern Ross Sea underwent a period of warming or increased isotopic enrichment. From the 17th century onwards, this dipole relationship changed. All three regions show current warming, with snow accumulation declining in West Antarctica and the eastern Ross Sea but increasing in the western Ross Sea. We interpret this pattern as reflecting an increase in sea ice in the eastern Ross Sea with perhaps the establishment of a modern Roosevelt Island polynya as a local moisture source for RICE.

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

2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 520-530 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Historical biomass burning: Late 19th century pioneer agriculture revolution in northern hemisphere ice core data and its atmospheric interpretation

1996 ◽  
Vol 101 (D18) ◽  
pp. 23317-23334 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Holdsworth ◽  
K. Higuchi ◽  
G. A. Zielinski ◽  
P. A. Mayewski ◽  
M. Wahlen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
Core Data

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

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 61-69 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Trends and features of climatic changes in the past 5000 years recorded by the Dunde ice core

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 21-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Tandong ◽  
L. G. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Temperature Relation ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
The Qilian Mountains

Α δ18O record from Dunde Ice Cap, located in the Qilian mountains on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, has been analyzed and interpreted. With an ice temperature of –7.3°C at a depth of 10 m and –4.7°C at the bottom of the ice cap, and an accumulation rate of 400 mm a−1, the Dunde core has provided interesting results. The upper part of this core, core D-l, can be easily dated by a combination of δ18O, microparticle concentration and conductivity. It can also be dated as far back as 4550 BP by counting dust layers in ice. Based on the time scale established by the above methods and on the δ18O–temperature relation, the δ18O fluctuations in the upper 120 m of the core can be interpreted as mainly due to climatic changes during the past ~ 5000 years. The warmest periods in the past ~ 5000 years in the core were found to be centered on the present, 3000, and 4100 BP, and the colder periods center around 500, 1200, 4000, and 4500 BP. It is clear from the ice-core record that the Little Ice Age was only one of many cold periods in the past, although it was the coldest period in the past 500 years.

scholarly journals Ice core precipitation record in central Tibetan plateau since AD 1600

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yao ◽  
K. Duan ◽  
B. Xu ◽  
N. Wang ◽  
X. Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Precipitation Record ◽  
High Precipitation

Abstract. Lack of reliable long-term precipitation record from northern Tibetan Plateau has constrained the understanding of precipitation variation in this region. An ice core drilled from the Puruogangri Ice Field on central Tibetan Plateau in the year 2000 helped reveal the precipitation variations since AD 1600. Analysis of the annual accumulation data presented precipitation changes from AD 1600, indicative of wet and dry periods in the past 400 year in the central Tibetan Plateau. Accordingly, the 18th and 20th centuries experienced high precipitation period, whilst the 19th century experienced low precipitation period. Such a feature was consistent with precipitation recorded in ice cores from Dunde and Guliya Glaciers, northern Tibetan Plateau. Besides, the results also pointed to consistency in precipitation-temperature correlation on the northern Tibetan Plateau, in a way that temperature and precipitation were positively correlated. But this feature was contrary to the relationship revealed from Dasuopu ice cores, southern Tibetan Plateau, where temperature and precipitation were negatively correlated. The north-south contrast in precipitation amount and its relationship with temperature may shed light on the reconstruction of Asian monsoon since AD 1600.

scholarly journals 1000 years of climatic change in China: ice-core δ18O evidence

1995 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. N. Lin ◽  
L.G. Thompson ◽  
M.E. Davis ◽  
E. Mosley-Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Western China ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Recent Warming ◽  
Reconstructed Temperature

Since 1987, ice cores have been drilled from the Dunde and Guliya ice caps on the Tibetan Plateau, western China. Here, the oxygen isotopic (δ18O) records for the last 1000 years from both these cores are compiled and compared. Using surface temperature observations since the mid-1960s from meteorological stations on the plateau and δ18O measured on precipitation collected contemporaneously, the empirical relationship: δ18O = 0.6 T s – 12 is established. δ18O appears to serve as a reasonable proxy for regional surface temperatures and a reasonable basis for reconstructing 1000a proxy temperature records from Dunde and Guliya. The reconstructed temperature histories for Dunde (on the eastern Tibetan Plateau) and Guliya (on the western Tibetan Plateau) show some centennial-scale similarities, but reveal quite different histories for higher-frequency variability over the last millennium. The ice-core δ18O histories from Dunde and Guliya are compared with a tree-ring index from western China and the dust-fall record from eastern China, but show no consistent relationship. The most prominent similarity between the reconstructed temperature histories for Dunde and Guliya is the marked warming of the last few decades. From the 1000a perspective provided be these ice-core records, the recent warming on Dunde is unique in its strength and persistence; however, the warming on Guliya (inferred from 18O enrichment) is more recent (since 1985) and not unprecedented. This recent warming over the Tibetan Plateau is evident in the limited meteorological records.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document