Jdw. Kahl et al., Decadal-scale variability in long-range atmospheric transport to the Summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet, GEOPHYS R L, 26(4), 1999, pp. 481-484
Ice cores extracted from the Summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet date to >110
kyr b.p. and reveal fluctuations in chemical and physical characteristics
on time scales ranging from days to millenia. Long-range atmospheric transp
ort patterns contribute substantially to variability in both airborne and s
now-deposited chemical species, and are thus one of the most important cons
iderations in assessing climate variability preserved in polar ice cores. H
ere we present new evidence of decadal-scale climate variability through an
analysis of 44 years of modeled, 10-day air trajectories arriving daily at
Summit, Greenland. Trajectory residence times over specific upwind regions
reveal interannual oscillations with periods of 4-14 years, and are correl
ated with three climate teleconnection indices. Our results suggest that th
e observed link between upstream source regions and the phases of large-sca
le climate oscillations may be exploited to further understand paleoclimati
c oscillations.