antarctic_coastal_ice_core_shows_abrupt_climate_change_around_22_ka

News Jan 01, 2004

Antarctic coastal ice core shows abrupt climate change around 22 ka.

Rhonda Eckard at Siple Dome, Antarctica. View Large

A new ice core from Siple Dome, Antarctica suggests the surface temperature increased by ~6°C in just several decades at approximately 22 ka BP. This abrupt change did not occur 500 km away in the Byrd ice core, or in climate proxy records in the Siple Dome core indicative of the mid-latitude Pacific. This demonstrates there was significant spatial heterogeneity in the response of the Antarctic climate during the last deglaciation and draws attention to unexplained mechanisms of abrupt climate change in Antarctica. As additional deglacial records with decadal time resolution become available from coastal Antarctica, we may find the mechanisms of abrupt climate change in the Antarctic to be as significant as those in the Arctic.

Title: Abrupt climate change around 22 ka on the Siple Coast of Antarctica

Authors: K. C. Taylor, J. W. C. White, J. P. Severinghaus, E. J. Brook, P. A. Mayewski, R. B. Alley, E. J. Steig, M. K. Spencer, E. Meyerson, D. A. Meese, G. W. Lamorey, A. Grachev, A. J. Gow and B. A. Barnett.

Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 23, Issues 1-2, January 2004, Pages 7-15.

News Source: Quaternary Science Reviews

ENVS Faculty: James White

ENVS News Category: Publication

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