D. A. Meese

Complexity of Holocene Climate as Reconstructed from a Greenland Ice Core

Glaciochemical time series developed from Summit, Greenland, indicate that the chemical composition of the atmosphere was dynamic during the Holocene epoch. Concentrations of sea salt and terrestrial dusts increased in Summit snow during the periods 0 to 600, 2400 to 3100, 5000 to 6100, 7800 to 8800, and more than 11,300 years ago. The most recent increase, and also the most abrupt, coincides with the Little Ice Age. These changes imply that either the north polar vortex expanded or the meridional air flow intensified during these periods, and that temperatures in the mid to high northern latitudes were potentially the coldest since the Younger Dryas event.

The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 Depth-age Scale: Methods and Results

The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) depth-age scale is presented based on a multiparameter continuous count approach, to a depth of 2800 m, using a systematic combination of parameters that have never been used to this extent before. The ice at 2800 m is dated at 110,000 years B.P. with an estimated error ranging from 1 to 10% in the top 2500 m of the core and averaging 20% between 2500 and 2800 m. Parameters used to date the core include visual stratigraphy, oxygen isotopic ratios of the ice, electrical conductivity measurements, laser-light scattering from dust, volcanic signals, and major ion chemistry. GISP2 ages for major climatic events agree with independent ages based on varve chronologies, calibrated radiocarbon dates, and other techniques within the combined uncertainties. Good agreement also is obtained with Greenland Ice Core Project ice core dates and with the SPECMAP marine timescale after correlation through the δ 18 O of O 2 . Although the core is deformed below 2800 m and the continuity of the record is unclear, we attempted to date this section of the core on the basis of the laser-light scattering of dust in the ice.

Record of Volcanism Since 7000 B.C. from the GISP2 Greenland Ice Core and Implications for the Volcano-Climate System.

Sulfate concentrations from continuous biyearly sampling of the GISP2 Greenland ice core provide a record of potential climate-forcing volcanism since 7000 B.C. Although 85 percent of the events recorded over the last 2000 years were matched to documented volcanic eruptions, only about 30 percent of the events from 1 to 7000 B.C. were matched to such events. Several historic eruptions may have been greater sulfur producers than previously thought. There are three times as many events from 5000 to 7000 B.C. as over the last two millennia with sulfate deposition equal to or up to five times that of the largest known historical eruptions. This increased volcanism in the early Holocene may have contributed to climatic cooling.

Changes in Atmospheric Circulation and Ocean Ice Cover over the North Atlantic During the Last 41,000 Years

High-resolution, continuous multivariate chemical records from a central Greenland ice core provide a sensitive measure of climate change and chemical composition of the atmosphere over the last 41,000 years. These chemical series reveal a record of change in the relative size and intensity of the circulation system that transported air masses to Greenland [defined here as the polar circulation index (PCI)] and in the extent of ocean ice cover. Massive iceberg discharge events previously defined from the marine record are correlated with notable expansions of ocean ice cover and increases in PCI. During stadials without discharge events, ocean ice cover appears to reach some common maximum level. The massive aerosol loadings and dramatic variations in ocean ice cover documented in ice cores should be included in climate modeling.

Visual‐stratigraphic dating of the GISP2 ice core: Basis, reproducibility, and application

Annual layers are visible in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core from central Greenland, allowing rapid dating of the core. Changes in bubble and grain structure caused by near-surface, primarily summertime formation of hoar complexes provide the main visible annual marker in the Holocene, and changes in “cloudiness” of the ice correlated with dustiness mark Wisconsinan annual cycles; both markers are evident and have been intercalibrated in early Holocene ice. Layer counts are reproducible between different workers and for one worker at different times, with 1% error over century-length times in the Holocene. Reproducibility is typically 5% in Wisconsinan ice-age ice and decreases with increasing age and depth. Cumulative ages from visible stratigraphy are not significantly different from independent ages of prominent events for ice older than the historical record and younger than approximately 50,000 years. Visible observations are not greatly degraded by “brittle ice” or many other core-quality problems, allowing construction of long, consistently sampled time series. High accuracy requires careful study of the core by dedicated observers.

Physical and structural properties of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core: A review

Substantial data sets have been collected on the relaxation characteristics, density, grain size, c axis fabrics, and ultrasonic velocities of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) core to its contact with bedrock at 3053.4 m. Changes in all these properties paralleled closely those found in cores from Byrd Station, Antarctica, and Dye 3, Greenland. Density increased progressively with depth to a maximum of 0.921 Mg/m3 at about 1400 m, at which depth the ice became bubble free. Below about 2000 m, in situ densities began to decrease in response to increasing ice sheet temperatures. Since drilling, much of the ice core has undergone significant volume expansion (relaxation) due to microcracking and the exsolving of enclathratized gases, especially in the brittle ice zone between 650 and 1400 m. Grain size increased linearly to about 1000 m, thereafter remaining fairly constant until the Younger Dryas event at 1678 m where a twofold to threefold decrease in grain size occurred. These grain size changes were accompanied by a progressive clustering of crystal c axes toward the vertical, including a small increase in c axis concentration across the Younger Dryas/Holocene boundary. Increased dust levels in the Wisconsin ice have contributed to the maintenance of a fine-grained texture which, with its strong vertical c axis fabric, persisted to nearly 3000 m. However, beginning at about 2800 m, layers of coarse-grained ice intermixed with the much finer-grained matrix ice are observed. Below 3000 m the ice became very coarse grained. This change, attributed to annealing recrystallization at elevated temperatures in the ice sheet, was accompanied by a dispersed or ring-like redistribution of the c axes about the vertical. Ultrasonic measurements of vertical and horizontal P wave velocities made at 10-m intervals along the entire length of the GISP2 core fully confirmed the results of the crystallo-optical observations. A return to fine-grained ice coincided with the first appearance of brown, silty ice 13 m above bedrock. Bedrock material consisted of 48 cm of till, including boulders and cobbles, overlying gray biotite granite comprising the true bedrock. There is evidence that disturbed structure in the GISP2 cores begins little more than 70% of the way through the ice sheet. This disturbance increases with depth until it becomes large enough to cast suspicion on features lasting centuries or more in the bottom 10% of the ice sheet.

Greenland ice core “signal” characteristics: An expanded view of climate change

The last millenium of Earth history is of particular interest because it documents the environmental complexities of both natural variability and anthropogenic activity. The authors have analyzed the major ions contained in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP 2) ice core from the present to {approximately}674 A.D. to yield an environmental reconstruction for this period that includes a description of nitrogen and sulfur cycling, volcanic emissions, sea salt and terrestrial influences. They have adapted and extended mathematical procedures for extracting sporadic (e.g., volcanic) events, secular trends, and periodicities found in the data sets. Finally, by not assuming that periodic components (signals) were {open_quotes}stationary{close_quotes} and by utilizing evolutionary spectral analysis, they were able to reveal periodic processes in the climate system which change in frequency, {open_quotes}turn on,{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}turn off{close_quotes} with other climate transitions such as that between the little ice age and the medieval warm period. 42 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

Mapping c-axis fabrics to study physical processes in ice

Mapping the spatial distribution of c-axis orientations in ice thin sections is not much more difficult than preparing c-axis scatter plots but can reveal additional information about processes responsible for the observed fabric and texture of the ice. Distributions of angles between c axes of neighboring grains from the Byrd Station (West Antarctica) ice core suggest that polygonization causes average grain-size to stabilize below 400 m depth

Dating the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core by manual and computer interpretation of annual layering

The Holocene portion of the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core was dated by interpreting the electrical, visual and chemical properties of the core.The data were interpreted manuallyandwith acomputeralgorithm.The algorithm interpretation was adjusted to be consistent with atmospheric methane stratigraphic ties to the GISP2 (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2) ice core, 10 Be stratigraphic ties to the dendrochronology 14 C recordandthedatedvolcanic stratigraphy.Thealgorithm interpretation ismorecon- sistent andbetter quantifiedthanthe tedious and subjective manual interpretation.

Grain-scale processes, folding, and stratigraphic disturbance in the GISP2 ice core

Flow disturbances have been shown to alter stratigraphic order in the lower part of the ice sheet in central Greenland. Vertical thin sections of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core show that in the lower 30%, the expected c axis-vertical fabric is interrupted by planes of grains (“stripes”) with c axes oriented approximately in the dip directions of the planes. Stripe-parallel shear produces small-scale folds. The stripes can be explained qualitatively by a simple nucleation-and-growth model based on the strong anisotropy of ice-crystal deformation. Nucleation probably is sensitive to spatially variable rates of polygonization, producing spatially variable stripe densities. Stripes are modeled to affect the ice viscosity, so variations in stripe density may contribute to viscosity contrasts that might produce larger deformational features and loss of stratigraphic order.