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Persistent link between solar activity and Greenland climate during the Last Glacial Maximum

Adolphi, Florian LU ; Muscheler, Raimund LU orcid ; Svensson, Anders ; Aldahan, Ala ; Possnert, Goran ; Beer, Jurg ; Sjolte, Jesper LU orcid ; Björck, Svante LU ; Matthes, Katja and Thieblemont, Remi (2014) In Nature Geoscience 7(9). p.662-666
Abstract
Changes in solar activity have previously been proposed to cause decadal- to millennial-scale fluctuations in both the modern and Holocene climates(1). Direct observational records of solar activity, such as sunspot numbers, exist for only the past few hundred years, so solar variability for earlier periods is typically reconstructed from measurements of cosmogenic radionuclides such as Be-10 and C-14 from ice cores and tree rings(2,3). Here we present a high-resolution Be-10 record from the ice core collected from central Greenland by the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP). The record spans from 22,500 to 10,000 years ago, and is based on new and compiled data(4-6). Using C-14 records(7,8) to control for climate-related influences on Be-10... (More)
Changes in solar activity have previously been proposed to cause decadal- to millennial-scale fluctuations in both the modern and Holocene climates(1). Direct observational records of solar activity, such as sunspot numbers, exist for only the past few hundred years, so solar variability for earlier periods is typically reconstructed from measurements of cosmogenic radionuclides such as Be-10 and C-14 from ice cores and tree rings(2,3). Here we present a high-resolution Be-10 record from the ice core collected from central Greenland by the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP). The record spans from 22,500 to 10,000 years ago, and is based on new and compiled data(4-6). Using C-14 records(7,8) to control for climate-related influences on Be-10 deposition, we reconstruct centennial changes in solar activity. We find that during the Last Glacial Maximum, solar minima correlate with more negative delta O-18 values of ice and are accompanied by increased snow accumulation and sea-salt input over central Greenland. We suggest that solar minima could have induced changes in the stratosphere that favour the development of high-pressure blocking systems located to the south of Greenland, as has been found in observations and model simulations for recent climate(9,10). We conclude that the mechanism behind solar forcing of regional climate change may have been similar under both modern and Last Glacial Maximum climate conditions. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Geoscience
volume
7
issue
9
pages
662 - 666
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • wos:000341635600015
  • scopus:84906822109
ISSN
1752-0908
DOI
10.1038/NGEO2225
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9644352b-a544-4720-bcc0-0de53cd2c00c (old id 4712908)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:22:47
date last changed
2022-03-19 20:09:48
@article{9644352b-a544-4720-bcc0-0de53cd2c00c,
  abstract     = {{Changes in solar activity have previously been proposed to cause decadal- to millennial-scale fluctuations in both the modern and Holocene climates(1). Direct observational records of solar activity, such as sunspot numbers, exist for only the past few hundred years, so solar variability for earlier periods is typically reconstructed from measurements of cosmogenic radionuclides such as Be-10 and C-14 from ice cores and tree rings(2,3). Here we present a high-resolution Be-10 record from the ice core collected from central Greenland by the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP). The record spans from 22,500 to 10,000 years ago, and is based on new and compiled data(4-6). Using C-14 records(7,8) to control for climate-related influences on Be-10 deposition, we reconstruct centennial changes in solar activity. We find that during the Last Glacial Maximum, solar minima correlate with more negative delta O-18 values of ice and are accompanied by increased snow accumulation and sea-salt input over central Greenland. We suggest that solar minima could have induced changes in the stratosphere that favour the development of high-pressure blocking systems located to the south of Greenland, as has been found in observations and model simulations for recent climate(9,10). We conclude that the mechanism behind solar forcing of regional climate change may have been similar under both modern and Last Glacial Maximum climate conditions.}},
  author       = {{Adolphi, Florian and Muscheler, Raimund and Svensson, Anders and Aldahan, Ala and Possnert, Goran and Beer, Jurg and Sjolte, Jesper and Björck, Svante and Matthes, Katja and Thieblemont, Remi}},
  issn         = {{1752-0908}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{662--666}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Geoscience}},
  title        = {{Persistent link between solar activity and Greenland climate during the Last Glacial Maximum}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2225}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/NGEO2225}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}