The Long‐Term Cooling Trend in East Antarctic Plateau Over the Past 2000 Years Is Only Robust Between 550 and 1550 CE. Issue 7 (9th April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: An, Chunlei; Hou, Shugui; Jiang, Su; Li, Yuansheng; Ma, Tianming; Curran, Mark A. J.; Pang, Hongxi; Zhang, Zhaoru; Zhang, Wangbin; Yu, Jinhai; Liu, Ke; Shi, Guitao; Ma, Hongmei; Sun, Bo
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 48:Issue 7(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-04-09
• Subjects: Dome A -- East Antarctic Plateau -- ice core -- past 2000 years -- temperature variability; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1029/2021GL092923
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract: The uncertainties in Antarctic climate reconstructions due to scarcity of proxy records have restricted the understanding of mechanisms of climate change, and further hindered the improvement of climate models. Here, we provide a new climate record derived from water stable isotopes in a Dome A, East Antarctica ice core. Together with six other ice core records, the Dome A record is used to investigate temperature changes in East Antarctic Plateau (EAP) during period 1–1900 CE. Our results show that, a previously reported long‐term cooling trend in EAP during the recent (pre‐1900 CE) 1900 years is only robust between 550 and 1550 CE. A combination of solar and volcanic forcing may have induced the EAP centennial‐scale cold events, and further caused the long‐term cooling trend from 550 to 1550 CE with a small contribution from orbital forcing. Plain Language Summary: A surface warming in Antarctica can induce an increase in ice sheet melting and further a rising of global sea level. Therefore, to understand how and why the Antarctic surface temperatures have changed is important to human life. Here, we study the climate variability in East Antarctic Plateau (EAP) during the period of 1–1900 CE. We provide a new climate record from Dome A, the highest ice dome in Antarctica. Using this record and six other climate records from EAP, we find that the previously reported long‐term cooling trend in EAP during the recent (pre‐1900 CE) 1900 years is only robust between 550 and 1550 CE. We detect warm climate lasting 100 years or more in 150–250 and 500–800 CE, and cold climate in 1200–1300, 1400–1550, and 1600–1700 CE. We suggest that the radiative forcings (solar irradiance, volcanic activity, and orbitally driven insolation) are responsible for the long‐term cooling trend from 550 to 1550 CE and the occurrence of centennial‐scale cold climate in EAP. Key Points: The previously reported long‐term cooling in East Antarctic Plateau from 1 to 1900 CE is only robust between 550 and 1550 CE The centennial‐scale warm climates occur in 150–250 and 500–800 CE, and cold climates in 1200–1300, 1400–1550, and 1600–1700 CE The variability of solar, volcanic, and orbital forcing should be responsible for the long‐term cooling and centennial‐scale cold climates