Douglas R. Hardy

Low latitude ice cores record Pacific sea surface temperatures

matic records suggested that a more conventional temperature interpretation might be more appropriate, with lower isotopic values during the (presumed to be) cooler ‘‘Little Ice Age’’ and increasingly enriched precipitation during the 20th century warming phase [Thompson, 2001]. [3] Both of these conflicting interpretations suffer from inadequate calibration of the observed isotopic record, in relation to climatic conditions during periods of snow accumulation on the ice caps. Here, we use the results of on-site meteorological measurements to determine the seasonality of the ice core record, and then assess how the isotopic records relate to temperature, precipitation and the larger scale circulation associated with snowfall at these high elevation sites. We then extend the analysis to ice core records from the Asian monsoon region. This empirical approach to the interpretation of the isotopic record in low latitude ice cores complements theoretical studies by Broecker [1997] and Pierrehumbert [1999].

Atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with 1996/1997 summer precipitation events on Sajama Ice Cap, Bolivia

The analysis of atmospheric circulation anomalies related to snowfall events on Sajama volcano (Bolivian Andes) provides important information for the calibration of an ice core, recently recovered from the summit. Seventeen precipitation episodes were recorded on Sajama volcano during the 1996/1997 summer season (November 1996 to March 1997) by snow depth sensors and additional measurements of an automatic weather station located on the summit. The analysis of atmospheric circulation patterns during these events is based on zonal and meridional wind, air temperature, relative humidity, geopotential height and horizontal divergence at three pressure levels (400, 500, and 700 hPa levels), atmospheric thickness (700 hPa-400 hPa), and precipitable water (vertically integrated), all extracted from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) data set. Highly convective situations prevailed through most of December and January, with strong vertical motion over the Bolivian Altiplano. In February and March, increased moisture advection from the east occurred in midtropospheric levels. These results are confirmed by isobaric 5-day back trajectories and transit time analysis at the 400 hPa level. The extremely southern position of the upper air high-pressure system (“Bolivian High”) in February and March is the main reason for the unusually high precipitation amounts on the Altiplano in 1996/1997. Highly variable patterns of atmospheric circulation can lead to snowfall on Sajama during the summer months.

Annual and Daily Meteorological Cycles at High Altitude on a Tropical Mountain

Abstract An automated weather station was installed in October 1996 at the summit of Nevado Sajama, located in the western Andean Cordillera of Bolivia (6542 m, 18°06´S, 68°53´W). Meteorological conditions on the mountain are being observed to improve the calibration of geochemical variations within tropical ice cores. This article documents the design and operation of the station and presents a discussion of measurements made through the first annual cycle. Variables analyzed include pressure, incoming solar radiation, air temperature, humidity, wind, and snow accumulation. Large diurnal fluctuations were recorded in most variables, which is not unexpected given the location at 18°S; the data also reveal substantial day-to-day variability and rapid seasonal changes in weather and circulation. As a result, snowfall events and periods of evaporation are more episodic in nature than previously believed. Measurement of atmospheric conditions during and between snowfall events will therefore greatly facilitat...

The climatic signal in varved sediments from Lake C2, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada

Annually-laminated clastic sediments preserve a high resolution proxy record of paleoclimate, provided that allochthonous sedimentation represents a response to meteorological forcing of watershed sediment transfer. Here, we demonstrate this linkage, and illustrate a calibration process using the most recent 40 years of a varve record from Lake C2 (82°50′ N; 78°00′ W), three years of field measurements, and meteorological data for 1951–92 from nearby AES weather station Alert. Field measurements were used to correlate proxies of the energy available for snowmelt (e.g. air temperature) and daily suspended sediment discharge (SSQ). Our calibration was extended through use of weather data from Alert. Both mean daily air temperature at Echo, and daily SSQ, were well correlated with air temperature at 600 m above Alert, as obtained from the 1200 Z (0800 LST) rawinsonde sounding. Accordingly, we used pooled 1990 and 1992 Alert 600 m data to predict the lagged daily sediment discharge into Lake C2 (adj. r2=0.43). Daily values were summed each year in order to produce an annual series of predicted sediment transfer to the lake. The original varve chronology was based on eight sediment cores recovered from the deep basin of the lake (>80 m). Although low-frequency fluctuations of the varve and predicted SSQ series agree, slight tuning of the varve record optimizes the correlation between them. Adjustments were based on examination of weather data for specific years, reexamination of sediment core thin sections, and by aligning fluctuations in the two series which closely matched. Although the original chronology is reasonably well correlated with 600 m temperatures at Alert (for JJA mean, r=0.41, significant at 0.01), the adjusted chronology is both better correlated and contains a more precise climate signal (r=0.54 for July mean, significant at 0.01). This is the first calibrated varve record produced from Arctic lake sediments, and demonstrates that varves from Lake C2 contain a paleoclimatic record. We believe the post-facto manipulations required to produce the adjusted varve chronology are reasonable given the uncertainties inherent in varve counting, and the lack of any independent corroborating chronostratigraphic markers.

Glacier loss on Kilimanjaro continues unabated

The dramatic loss of Kilimanjaros ice cover has attracted global attention. The three remaining ice fields on the plateau and the slopes are both shrinking laterally and rapidly thinning. Summit ice cover (areal extent) decreased ≈1% per year from 1912 to 1953 and ≈2.5% per year from 1989 to 2007. Of the ice cover present in 1912, 85% has disappeared and 26% of that present in 2000 is now gone. From 2000 to 2007 thinning (surface lowering) at the summits of the Northern and Southern Ice Fields was ≈1.9 and ≈5.1 m, respectively, which based on ice thicknesses at the summit drill sites in 2000 represents a thinning of ≈3.6% and ≈24%, respectively. Furtwängler Glacier thinned ≈50% at the drill site between 2000 and 2009. Ice volume changes (2000–2007) calculated for two ice fields reveal that nearly equivalent ice volumes are now being lost to thinning and lateral shrinking. The relative importance of different climatological drivers remains an area of active inquiry, yet several points bear consideration. Kilimanjaros ice loss is contemporaneous with widespread glacier retreat in mid to low latitudes. The Northern Ice Field has persisted at least 11,700 years and survived a widespread drought ≈4,200 years ago that lasted ≈300 years. We present additional evidence that the combination of processes driving the current shrinking and thinning of Kilimanjaros ice fields is unique within an 11,700-year perspective. If current climatological conditions are sustained, the ice fields atop Kilimanjaro and on its flanks will likely disappear within several decades.

Quantifying Climate Change in the Tropical Midtroposphere over East Africa from Glacier Shrinkage on Kilimanjaro

Slope glaciers on Kilimanjaro (ca. 5000–6000 m MSL) reached their most recent maximum extent in the late nineteenth century (L19) and have receded since then. This study quantifies the climate signal behind the recession of Kersten Glacier, which generates information on climate change in the tropical midtroposphere between L19 and present. Multiyear meteorological measurements at 5873 m MSL serve to force and verify a spatially distributed model of the glacier’s mass balance (the most direct link between glacier behavior and atmospheric forcing). At present the glacier is losing mass (522 6 105 kg m 22 yr 21 ), terminates at 5100 m, and the interannual variability of mass and energy budgets largely reflects variability in atmospheric moisture. Backward modeling of the L19 steady-state glacier extent (down to 4500 m) reveals higher precipitation (1160 to 1240 mm yr 21 ), higher air humidity, and increased fractional cloud cover in L19 but no significant changes in local air temperature, air pressure, and wind speed. The atmosphere in the simulated L19 climate transfers more energy to the glacier surface through atmospheric longwave radiation and turbulent heat—but this is almost entirely balanced by the decrease in absorbed solar radiation (due to both increased cloudiness and higher surface albedo). Thus, the energy-driven mass loss per unit area (sublimation plus meltwater runoff) was not appreciably different from today. Higher L19 precipitation rates therefore dominated the mass budget and produced a larger glacier extent in the past.

CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS OF A NEWLY RECOGNIZED DISEASE OF ELEPHANTS CAUSED BY ENDOTHELIOTROPIC HERPESVIRUSES

The unique clinical and pathological findings in nine Asian (Elephas maximus) and two African (Loxodonta africana) elephants from North American Zoos with a highly fatal disease caused by novel endotheliotropic herpesviruses are described. Identification of the viruses by molecular techniques and some epidemiological aspects of the disease were previously reported. Consensus primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) combined with sequencing yielded molecular evidence that confirmed the presence of two novel but related herpesviruses associated with the disease, one in Asian elephants and the second in African elephants. Disease onset was acute, with lethargy, edema of the head and thoracic limbs, oral ulceration and cyanosis of the tongue followed by death of most animals in 1 to 7 days. Pertinent laboratory findings in two of three clinically evaluated animals included lymphocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. Two affected young Asian elephants recovered after a 3 to 4 wk course of therapy with the anti-herpesvirus drug famciclovir. Necropsy findings in the fatal cases included pericardial effusion and extensive petechial hemorrhages in the heart and throughout the peritoneal cavity, hepatomegaly, cyanosis of the tongue, intestinal hemorrhage, and ulceration. Histologically, there were extensive microhemorrhages and edema throughout the myocardium and mild, subacute myocarditis. Similar hemorrhagic lesions with inflammation were evident in the tongue, liver, and large intestine. Lesions in these target organs were accompanied by amphophilic to basophilic intranuclear viral inclusion bodies in capillary endothelial cells. Transmission electron microscopy of the endothelial inclusion bodies revealed 80 to 92 nm diameter viral capsids consistent with herpesvirus morphology. The short course of the herpesvirus infections, with sudden deaths in all but the two surviving elephants, was ascribed to acute cardiac failure attributed to herpesvirus-induced capillary injury with extensive myocardial hemorrhage and edema.

Energy-balance model validation on the top of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, using eddy covariance data

Abstract Eddy covariance data collected over a horizontal surface on the largest ice body on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, over 26–29 July 2005 were used to assess the uncertainty of calculating sublimation with a surface energy balance (SEB) model. Data required for input to the SEB model were obtained from an existing automatic weather station. Surface temperatures that were solved iteratively by the SEB model were used to compute emitted longwave radiation, turbulent heat fluxes using the aerodynamic bulk method and the subsurface heat flux. Roughness lengths for momentum and temperature, which were found to be the most important input parameters controlling the magnitude of modelled (bulk method) turbulent heat fluxes, were obtained using eddy covariance data. The roughness length for momentum was estimated to be 1.7×10–3 m, while the length for temperature was one order of magnitude smaller. Modelled sensible and latent heat fluxes (bulk method) compared well to eddy covariance data, with root-mean-square differences between 3.1 and 4.8 Wm–2 for both turbulent heat fluxes. Modelled sublimation accounted for about 90% of observed ablation, confirming that mass loss by melting is much less important than sublimation on the horizontal surfaces of the remaining plateau glaciers on Kilimanjaro.

Climatic influences on streamflow and sediment flux into Lake C2, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada *

Streamflow, suspended sediment transport and meteorological variables at two elevations were measured through the 1990–1992 field seasons at Lake C2, Northern Ellesmere Island, as part of the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project. The objectives were to determine the extent to which suspended sediment flux responded to climatic variability, and to ascertain which meteorological variable was most strongly associated with daily discharge and sediment load. This study provided a partial test of our hypothesis that the annually-laminated sediments of Lake C2 contain a paleoclimate signal. Streamflow to the lake was almost exclusively the result of snowmelt, in response to inputs of atmospheric energy as measured by air temperature at the median watershed elevation (520 m). Sea-level air temperature, global solar and net all-wave irradiance were less clearly associated with discharge. Fluctuations of discharge and suspended sediment concentration were nearly synchronous, and non-linearly related. Daily sediment discharge was therefore linked by streamflow, with a time lag, to the energy available for snowmelt. Mean daily air temperature and cumulative degree-days above 0 °C, at 520 m elevation, were successfully used to predict the daily and seasonal discharge of runoff and sediment to the lake.

The Taconite Inlet Lakes Project: a systems approach to paleoclimatic reconstruction

A comprehensive study of meteorological, hydrological, limnological and sedimentological conditions in the watersheds of density-stratified (meromictic) lakes around Taconite Inlet, Northern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada was carried out from 1990–1992. Lakes C1 and C2 contain seawater ‘trapped’ by isostatic uplift as the former embayments became isolated from the sea. These lakes, and Lake C3, contain varved sediments which provide an annually resolvable paleoclimatic record. By studing the major systems influencing sedimentation in one of these lakes (Lake C2) a better understanding of the climatic controls on varve formation, and hence on the paleoclimatic signal in the varved sediment record, was obtained. The varves of Lake C2 provide a proxy record of summer temperature for the region.