Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4135-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4135-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
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19 Nov 2020
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 19 Nov 2020
| 19 Nov 2020
Distinguishing the impacts of ozone and ozone-depleting substances on the recent increase in Antarctic surface mass balance
Rei Chemke
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Michael Previdi
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA
Mark R. England
Department of Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA
Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, University of North Carolina Wilmington, NC, USA
Lorenzo M. Polvani
Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA
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Tyler P. Janoski, Ivan Mitevski, Ryan J. Kramer, Michael Previdi, and Lorenzo M. Polvani
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3065–3079, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3065-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3065-2025, 2025
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We developed ClimKern, a Python package and radiative kernel repository, to simplify calculating radiative feedbacks and make climate sensitivity studies more reproducible. Testing of ClimKern with sample climate model data reveals that radiative kernel choice may be more important than previously thought, especially in polar regions. Our work highlights the need for kernel sensitivity analyses to be included in future studies.
Kevin DallaSanta and Lorenzo M. Polvani
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8843–8862, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8843-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8843-2022, 2022
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Volcanic eruptions cool the earth by reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the surface. Paradoxically, it has been suggested that they may also warm the surface, but the evidence for this is scant. Here, we show that a small warming can be seen in a climate model for large-enough eruptions. However, even for eruptions much larger than those that have occurred in the past two millennia, post-eruption winters over Eurasia are indistinguishable from those occurring without a prior eruption.
Adam A. Scaife, Mark P. Baldwin, Amy H. Butler, Andrew J. Charlton-Perez, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, Chaim I. Garfinkel, Steven C. Hardiman, Peter Haynes, Alexey Yu Karpechko, Eun-Pa Lim, Shunsuke Noguchi, Judith Perlwitz, Lorenzo Polvani, Jadwiga H. Richter, John Scinocca, Michael Sigmond, Theodore G. Shepherd, Seok-Woo Son, and David W. J. Thompson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2601–2623, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2601-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2601-2022, 2022
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Great progress has been made in computer modelling and simulation of the whole climate system, including the stratosphere. Since the late 20th century we also gained a much clearer understanding of how the stratosphere interacts with the lower atmosphere. The latest generation of numerical prediction systems now explicitly represents the stratosphere and its interaction with surface climate, and here we review its role in long-range predictions and projections from weeks to decades ahead.
Antara Banerjee, Amy H. Butler, Lorenzo M. Polvani, Alan Robock, Isla R. Simpson, and Lantao Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6985–6997, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6985-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6985-2021, 2021
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We find that simulated stratospheric sulfate geoengineering could lead to warmer Eurasian winters alongside a drier Mediterranean and wetting to the north. These effects occur due to the strengthening of the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex, which shifts the North Atlantic Oscillation to a more positive phase. We find the effects in our simulations to be much more significant than the wintertime effects of large tropical volcanic eruptions which inject much less sulfate aerosol.
Lorenzo M. Polvani and Suzana J. Camargo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13687–13700, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13687-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13687-2020, 2020
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On the basis of questionable early studies, it is widely believed that low-latitude volcanic eruptions cause winter warming over Eurasia. However, we here demonstrate that the winter warming over Eurasia following the 1883 Krakatau eruption was unremarkable and, in all likelihood, unrelated to that eruption. Confirming similar findings for the 1991 Pinatubo eruption, the new research demonstrates that no detectable Eurasian winter warming is to be expected after eruptions of similar magnitude.
Jessica Oehrlein, Gabriel Chiodo, and Lorenzo M. Polvani
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10531–10544, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10531-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10531-2020, 2020
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Winter winds in the stratosphere 10–50 km above the surface impact climate at the surface. Prior studies suggest that this interaction between the stratosphere and the surface is affected by ozone. We compare two ways of including ozone in computer simulations of climate. One method is more realistic but more expensive. We find that the method of including ozone in simulations affects the surface climate when the stratospheric winds are unusually weak but not when they are unusually strong.
Daniel M. Westervelt, Nora R. Mascioli, Arlene M. Fiore, Andrew J. Conley, Jean-François Lamarque, Drew T. Shindell, Greg Faluvegi, Michael Previdi, Gustavo Correa, and Larry W. Horowitz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3009–3027, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3009-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3009-2020, 2020
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We use three Earth system models to estimate the impact of regional air pollutant emissions reductions on global and regional surface temperature. We find that removing human-caused air pollutant emissions from certain world regions (such as the USA) results in warming of up to 0.15 °C. We use our model output to calculate simple climate metrics that will allow for regional-scale climate impact estimates without the use of computationally demanding computer models.
Lorenzo M. Polvani, Antara Banerjee, and Anja Schmidt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6351–6366, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6351-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6351-2019, 2019
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This study provides compelling new evidence that the surface winter warming observed over the Northern Hemisphere continents following the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo was, very likely, completely unrelated to the eruption. This result has implications for earlier eruptions, as the evidence presented here demonstrates that the surface signal of even the very largest known eruptions may be swamped by the internal variability at high latitudes.
Daniel M. Westervelt, Andrew J. Conley, Arlene M. Fiore, Jean-François Lamarque, Drew T. Shindell, Michael Previdi, Nora R. Mascioli, Greg Faluvegi, Gustavo Correa, and Larry W. Horowitz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12461–12475, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12461-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12461-2018, 2018
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Small particles in Earth's atmosphere (also referred to as atmospheric aerosols) emitted by human activities impact Earth's climate in complex ways and play an important role in Earth's water cycle. We use a climate modeling approach and find that aerosols from the United States and Europe can have substantial effects on rainfall in far-away regions such as Africa's Sahel or the Mediterranean. Air pollution controls in these regions may help reduce the likelihood and severity of Sahel drought.
Blanca Ayarzagüena, Lorenzo M. Polvani, Ulrike Langematz, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Slimane Bekki, Neal Butchart, Martin Dameris, Makoto Deushi, Steven C. Hardiman, Patrick Jöckel, Andrew Klekociuk, Marion Marchand, Martine Michou, Olaf Morgenstern, Fiona M. O'Connor, Luke D. Oman, David A. Plummer, Laura Revell, Eugene Rozanov, David Saint-Martin, John Scinocca, Andrea Stenke, Kane Stone, Yousuke Yamashita, Kohei Yoshida, and Guang Zeng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11277–11287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11277-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11277-2018, 2018
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Stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs) are natural major disruptions of the polar stratospheric circulation that also affect surface weather. In the literature there are conflicting claims as to whether SSWs will change in the future. The confusion comes from studies using different models and methods. Here we settle the question by analysing 12 models with a consistent methodology, to show that no robust changes in frequency and other features are expected over the 21st century.
Related subject area
Discipline: Snow | Subject: Antarctic
How do extreme ENSO events affect Antarctic surface mass balance?
Extreme precipitation associated with atmospheric rivers over West Antarctic ice shelves: insights from kilometre-scale regional climate modelling
Surface processes and drivers of the snow water stable isotopic composition at Dome C, East Antarctica – a multi-dataset and modelling analysis
Dual-frequency radar observations of snowmelt processes on Antarctic perennial sea ice by CFOSCAT and ASCAT
Contribution of blowing-snow sublimation to the surface mass balance of Antarctica
Emulating the future distribution of perennial firn aquifers in Antarctica
A decade (2008–2017) of water stable isotope composition of precipitation at Concordia Station, East Antarctica
Firn air content changes on Antarctic ice shelves under three future warming scenarios
Extreme events of snow grain size increase in East Antarctica and their relationship with meteorological conditions
Local spatial variability in the occurrence of summer precipitation in the Sør Rondane Mountains, Antarctica
Characteristics of the 1979–2020 Antarctic firn layer simulated with IMAU-FDM v1.2A
The sensitivity of satellite microwave observations to liquid water in the Antarctic snowpack
Spectral characterization, radiative forcing and pigment content of coastal Antarctic snow algae: approaches to spectrally discriminate red and green communities and their impact on snowmelt
Representative surface snow density on the East Antarctic Plateau
Brief communication: Evaluating Antarctic precipitation in ERA5 and CMIP6 against CloudSat observations
Drifting-snow statistics from multiple-year autonomous measurements in Adélie Land, East Antarctica
Impact of exhaust emissions on chemical snowpack composition at Concordia Station, Antarctica
Observation of the process of snow accumulation on the Antarctic Plateau by time lapse laser scanning
Evaluation of CloudSat snowfall rate profiles by a comparison with in situ micro-rain radar observations in East Antarctica
Investigation of a wind-packing event in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica
Archival processes of the water stable isotope signal in East Antarctic ice cores
Jessica M. A. Macha, Andrew N. Mackintosh, Felicity S. McCormack, Benjamin J. Henley, Helen V. McGregor, Christiaan T. van Dalum, and Ariaan Purich
The Cryosphere, 19, 1915–1935, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1915-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1915-2025, 2025
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Extreme El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events have global impacts, but their Antarctic impacts are poorly understood. Examining Antarctic snow accumulation anomalies of past observed extreme ENSO events, we show that accumulation changes differ between events and are insignificant during most events. Significant changes occur during 2015/16 and in Enderby Land during all extreme El Niños. Historical data limit conclusions, but future greater extremes could cause Antarctic accumulation changes.
Ella Gilbert, Denis Pishniak, José Abraham Torres, Andrew Orr, Michelle Maclennan, Nander Wever, and Kristiina Verro
The Cryosphere, 19, 597–618, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-597-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-597-2025, 2025
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We use three sophisticated climate models to examine extreme precipitation in a critical region of West Antarctica. We found that rainfall probably occurred during the two cases we examined and that it was generated by the interaction of air with steep topography. Our results show that kilometre-scale models are useful tools for exploring extreme precipitation in this region and that more observations of rainfall are needed.
Inès Ollivier, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Barbara Stenni, Laurent Arnaud, Mathieu Casado, Alexandre Cauquoin, Giuliano Dreossi, Christophe Genthon, Bénédicte Minster, Ghislain Picard, Martin Werner, and Amaëlle Landais
The Cryosphere, 19, 173–200, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-173-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-173-2025, 2025
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The role of post-depositional processes taking place at the ice sheet's surface on the water stable isotope signal measured in polar ice cores is not fully understood. Using field observations and modelling results, we show that the original precipitation isotopic signal at Dome C, East Antarctica, is modified by post-depositional processes and provide the first quantitative estimation of their mean impact on the isotopic signal observed in the snow.
Rui Xu, Chaofang Zhao, Stefanie Arndt, and Christian Haas
The Cryosphere, 18, 5769–5788, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5769-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-5769-2024, 2024
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The onset of snowmelt on Antarctic sea ice is an important indicator of sea ice change. In this study, we used two radar scatterometers to detect the onset of snowmelt on perennial Antarctic sea ice. Results show that since 2007, snowmelt onset has demonstrated strong interannual and regional variabilities. We also found that the difference in snowmelt onsets between the two scatterometers is closely related to snow metamorphism.
Srinidhi Gadde and Willem Jan van de Berg
The Cryosphere, 18, 4933–4953, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4933-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4933-2024, 2024
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Blowing-snow sublimation is the major loss term in the mass balance of Antarctica. In this study we update the blowing-snow representation in the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO). With the updates, results compare well with observations from East Antarctica. Also, the continent-wide variation of blowing snow compares well with satellite observations. Hence, the updates provide a clear step forward in producing a physically sound and reliable estimate of the mass balance of Antarctica.
Sanne B. M. Veldhuijsen, Willem Jan van de Berg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Nicolaj Hansen, Fredrik Boberg, Christoph Kittel, Charles Amory, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2855, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2855, 2024
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Perennial firn aquifers (PFAs), year-round bodies of liquid water within firn, can potentially impact ice-shelf and ice-sheet stability. We developed a fast XGBoost firn emulator to predict 21st-century distribution of PFAs in Antarctica for 12 climatic forcings datasets. Our findings suggest that under low emission scenarios, PFAs remain confined to the Antarctic Peninsula. However, under a high-emission scenario, PFAs are projected to expand to a region in West Antarctica and East Antarctica.
Giuliano Dreossi, Mauro Masiol, Barbara Stenni, Daniele Zannoni, Claudio Scarchilli, Virginia Ciardini, Mathieu Casado, Amaëlle Landais, Martin Werner, Alexandre Cauquoin, Giampietro Casasanta, Massimo Del Guasta, Vittoria Posocco, and Carlo Barbante
The Cryosphere, 18, 3911–3931, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3911-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3911-2024, 2024
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Oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes have been extensively used to reconstruct past temperatures, with precipitation representing the input signal of the isotopic records in ice cores. We present a 10-year record of stable isotopes in daily precipitation at Concordia Station: this is the longest record for inland Antarctica and represents a benchmark for quantifying post-depositional processes and improving the paleoclimate interpretation of ice cores.
Sanne B. M. Veldhuijsen, Willem Jan van de Berg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 18, 1983–1999, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1983-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1983-2024, 2024
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We use the IMAU firn densification model to simulate the 21st-century evolution of Antarctic firn air content. Ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula and the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf in Dronning Maud Land are particularly vulnerable to total firn air content (FAC) depletion. Our results also underline the potentially large vulnerability of low-accumulation ice shelves to firn air depletion through ice slab formation.
Claudio Stefanini, Giovanni Macelloni, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Vincent Favier, Benjamin Pohl, and Ghislain Picard
The Cryosphere, 18, 593–608, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-593-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-593-2024, 2024
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Local and large-scale meteorological conditions have been considered in order to explain some peculiar changes of snow grains on the East Antarctic Plateau from 2000 to 2022, by using remote sensing observations and reanalysis. We identified some extreme grain size events on the highest ice divide, resulting from a combination of conditions of low wind speed and low temperature. Moreover, the beginning of seasonal grain growth has been linked to the occurrence of atmospheric rivers.
Alfonso Ferrone, Étienne Vignon, Andrea Zonato, and Alexis Berne
The Cryosphere, 17, 4937–4956, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4937-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4937-2023, 2023
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In austral summer 2019/2020, three K-band Doppler profilers were deployed across the Sør Rondane Mountains, south of the Belgian base Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Their measurements, along with atmospheric simulations and reanalyses, have been used to study the spatial variability in precipitation over the region, as well as investigate the interaction between the complex terrain and the typical flow associated with precipitating systems.
Sanne B. M. Veldhuijsen, Willem Jan van de Berg, Max Brils, Peter Kuipers Munneke, and Michiel R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 17, 1675–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1675-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1675-2023, 2023
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Firn is the transition of snow to glacier ice and covers 99 % of the Antarctic ice sheet. Knowledge about the firn layer and its variability is important, as it impacts satellite-based estimates of ice sheet mass change. Also, firn contains pores in which nearly all of the surface melt is retained. Here, we improve a semi-empirical firn model and simulate the firn characteristics for the period 1979–2020. We evaluate the performance with field and satellite measures and test its sensitivity.
Ghislain Picard, Marion Leduc-Leballeur, Alison F. Banwell, Ludovic Brucker, and Giovanni Macelloni
The Cryosphere, 16, 5061–5083, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5061-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-5061-2022, 2022
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Using a snowpack radiative transfer model, we investigate in which conditions meltwater can be detected from passive microwave satellite observations from 1.4 to 37 GHz. In particular, we determine the minimum detectable liquid water content, the maximum depth of detection of a buried wet snow layer and the risk of false alarm due to supraglacial lakes. These results provide information for the developers of new, more advanced satellite melt products and for the users of the existing products.
Alia L. Khan, Heidi M. Dierssen, Ted A. Scambos, Juan Höfer, and Raul R. Cordero
The Cryosphere, 15, 133–148, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-133-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-133-2021, 2021
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We present radiative forcing (RF) estimates by snow algae in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) region from multi-year measurements of solar radiation and ground-based hyperspectral characterization of red and green snow algae collected during a brief field expedition in austral summer 2018. Mean daily RF was double for green (~26 W m−2) vs. red (~13 W m−2) snow algae during the peak growing season, which is on par with midlatitude dust attributions capable of advancing snowmelt.
Alexander H. Weinhart, Johannes Freitag, Maria Hörhold, Sepp Kipfstuhl, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 14, 3663–3685, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3663-2020, 2020
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From 1 m snow profiles along a traverse on the East Antarctic Plateau, we calculated a representative surface snow density of 355 kg m−3 for this region with an error less than 1.5 %.
This density is 10 % higher and density fluctuations seem to happen on smaller scales than climate model outputs suggest. Our study can help improve the parameterization of surface snow density in climate models to reduce the error in future sea level predictions.
Marie-Laure Roussel, Florentin Lemonnier, Christophe Genthon, and Gerhard Krinner
The Cryosphere, 14, 2715–2727, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2715-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2715-2020, 2020
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The Antarctic precipitation is evaluated against space radar data in the most recent climate model intercomparison CMIP6 and reanalysis ERA5. The seasonal cycle is mostly well reproduced, but relative errors are higher in areas of complex topography, particularly in the higher-resolution models. At continental and regional scales all results are biased high, with no significant progress in the more recent models. Predicting Antarctic contribution to sea level still requires model improvements.
Charles Amory
The Cryosphere, 14, 1713–1725, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1713-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1713-2020, 2020
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This paper presents an assessment of drifting-snow occurrences and snow mass transport from up to 9 years (2010–2018) of half-hourly observational records collected at two remote locations in coastal Adelie Land (East Antarctica) using second-generation IAV Engineering acoustic FlowCapt sensors. The dataset is freely available to the scientific community and can be used to complement satellite products and evaluate snow-transport models close to the surface and at high temporal frequency.
Detlev Helmig, Daniel Liptzin, Jacques Hueber, and Joel Savarino
The Cryosphere, 14, 199–209, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-199-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-199-2020, 2020
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We present 15 months of trace gas observations from air withdrawn within the snowpack and from above the snow at Concordia Station in Antarctica. The data show occasional positive spikes, indicative of pollution from the station generator. The pollution signal can be seen in snowpack air shortly after it is observed above the snow surface, and lasting for up to several days, much longer than above the surface.
Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Romain Caneill, Eric Lefebvre, and Maxim Lamare
The Cryosphere, 13, 1983–1999, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1983-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1983-2019, 2019
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To study how snow accumulates in Antarctica, we analyze daily surface elevation recorded by an automatic laser scanner. We show that new snow often accumulates in thick patches covering a small fraction of the surface. Most patches are removed by erosion within weeks, implying that only a few contribute to the snowpack. This explains the heterogeneity on the surface and in the snowpack. These findings are important for surface mass and energy balance, photochemistry, and ice core interpretation.
Florentin Lemonnier, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, Chantal Claud, Christophe Genthon, Claudio Durán-Alarcón, Cyril Palerme, Alexis Berne, Niels Souverijns, Nicole van Lipzig, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Tristan L'Ecuyer, and Norman Wood
The Cryosphere, 13, 943–954, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-943-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-943-2019, 2019
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Evaluation of the vertical precipitation rate profiles of CloudSat radar by comparison with two surface-based micro-rain radars (MRR) located at two antarctic stations gives a near-perfect correlation between both datasets, even though climatic and geographic conditions are different for the stations. A better understanding and reassessment of CloudSat uncertainties ranging from −13 % up to +22 % confirms the robustness of the CloudSat retrievals of snowfall over Antarctica.
Christian Gabriel Sommer, Nander Wever, Charles Fierz, and Michael Lehning
The Cryosphere, 12, 2923–2939, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2923-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2923-2018, 2018
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Wind packing is how wind produces hard crusts at the surface of the snowpack. This is relevant for the local mass balance in polar regions. However, not much is known about this process and it is difficult to capture its high spatial and temporal variability. A wind-packing event was measured in Antarctica. It could be quantified how drifting snow leads to wind packing and generates barchan dunes. The documentation of these deposition dynamics is an important step in understanding polar snow.
Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Ghislain Picard, Thomas Münch, Thomas Laepple, Barbara Stenni, Giuliano Dreossi, Alexey Ekaykin, Laurent Arnaud, Christophe Genthon, Alexandra Touzeau, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, and Jean Jouzel
The Cryosphere, 12, 1745–1766, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1745-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1745-2018, 2018
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Ice core isotopic records rely on the knowledge of the processes involved in the archival processes of the snow. In the East Antarctic Plateau, post-deposition processes strongly affect the signal found in the surface and buried snow compared to the initial climatic signal. We evaluate the different contributions to the surface snow isotopic composition between the precipitation and the exchanges with the atmosphere and the variability of the isotopic signal found in profiles from snow pits.
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Short summary
The increase in Antarctic surface mass balance (SMB, precipitation vs. evaporation/sublimation) is projected to mitigate sea-level rise. Here we show that nearly half of this increase over the 20th century is attributed to stratospheric ozone depletion and ozone-depleting substance (ODS) emissions. Our results suggest that the phaseout of ODS by the Montreal Protocol, and the recovery of stratospheric ozone, will act to decrease the SMB over the 21st century and the mitigation of sea-level rise.
The increase in Antarctic surface mass balance (SMB, precipitation vs. evaporation/sublimation)...
