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Holocene Climate Variability in Antarctica Based on 11 Ice-Core Isotopic Records

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Valérie Masson ,
Françoise Vimeux ,
Jean Jouzel ,
Vin Morgan ,
Marc Delmotte ,
Philippe Ciais ,
Claus Hammer ,
Sigfus Johnsen ,
Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov  and
E. Mosley-Thompson
...Show all authors
Valérie Masson
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Françoise Vimeux
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Jean Jouzel
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Vin Morgan
Affiliation:
Antarctic CRC and Australian Antarctic Division, GPO Box 252-80, Hobart, 7001, Australia
Marc Delmotte
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Philippe Ciais
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Claus Hammer
Affiliation:
Niels Bohr Institute, Department of Geophysics, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 DK, Copenhagen, Denmark
Sigfus Johnsen
Affiliation:
Niels Bohr Institute, Department of Geophysics, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 DK, Copenhagen, Denmark
Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov
Affiliation:
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, 38 Bering Street, St. Petersburg, 199397, Russia
E. Mosley-Thompson
Affiliation:
Byrd Polar Research Center, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210
Jean-Robert Petit
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, 54 rue Molière, Domaine Universitaire, BP 96, 38402, Saint-Martin-d'Hères cédex, France
Eric J. Steig
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 251 Hayden Hall, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-6316
Michel Stievenard
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 709, L'Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Rein Vaikmae
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, Tallinn Technical University, 7 Estonia Boulevard, 10143, Tallin, Estonia
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Abstract

A comparison is made of the Holocene records obtained from water isotope measurements along 11 ice cores from coastal and central sites in east Antarctica (Vostok, Dome B, Plateau Remote, Komsomolskaia, Dome C, Taylor Dome, Dominion Range, D47, KM105, and Law Dome) and west Antarctica (Byrd), with temporal resolution from 20 to 50 yr. The long-term trends possibly reflect local ice sheet elevation fluctuations superimposed on common climatic fluctuations. All the records confirm the widespread Antarctic early Holocene optimum between 11,500 and 9000 yr; in the Ross Sea sector, a secondary optimum is identified between 7000 and 5000 yr, whereas all eastern Antarctic sites show a late optimum between 6000 and 3000 yr. Superimposed on the long time trend, all the records exhibit 9 aperiodic millennial-scale oscillations. Climatic optima show a reduced pacing between warm events (typically 800 yr), whereas cooler periods are associated with less-frequent warm events (pacing >1200 yr).

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , November 2000 , pp. 348 - 358
Copyright
University of Washington

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