Beryllium‐10 transport to Antarctica: Results from seasonally resolved observations and modeling

[1] Cosmogenic 10Be measured in polar ice cores has important application in the reconstruction of past solar activity. However, the processes controlling its atmospheric transport and deposition to the ice sheets are not fully understood. Here we use the seasonal changes in 10Be concentrations in a 10 year monthly resolved ice core record from the Law Dome site (East Antarctica) in conjunction with ECHAM5-HAM general circulation model (GCM) simulations of 10Be and 7Be deposition as tools to examine this problem. Maximum 10Be concentrations are observed in the ice core during the austral late summer to early autumn (summer-autumn), while minimum concentrations are observed during the austral winter. The GCM simulations, corroborated by earlier observations of 10Be:7Be ratios in Antarctica from the Georg von Neumayer air sampling station, suggest that the 10Be concentration maximum is linked to direct input of stratospheric 10Be from the Antarctic stratosphere to the lower levels of the Antarctic troposphere during the austral summer-autumn. This result contrasts with the modeled transport of 10Be to Greenland, where the seasonal maximum in stratospheric input is seen in the late winter to spring, synchronous with the timing of the seasonal maximum in midlatitude stratosphere to troposphere exchange. Our results suggest that a different combination of processes is responsible for the transport of 10Be to the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.

[1]  Andrew J. Monaghan,et al.  An Assessment of Precipitation Changes over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean since 1989 in Contemporary Global Reanalyses , 2011 .

[2]  Andrew M. Smith,et al.  High-resolution records of the beryllium-10 solar activity proxy in ice from Law Dome, East Antarctica: measurement, reproducibility and principal trends , 2011 .

[3]  E. Bard,et al.  An Antarctic view of Beryllium-10 and solar activity for the past millennium , 2011 .

[4]  M. Werner,et al.  Synchronicity of Antarctic temperatures and local solar insolation on orbital timescales , 2011, Nature.

[5]  P. Bierman,et al.  Short and long-term delivery rates of meteoric 10Be to terrestrial soils , 2011 .

[6]  G. König‐Langlo,et al.  Continuous 25-yr aerosol records at coastal Antarctica – I: inter-annual variability of ionic compounds and links to climate indices , 2011 .

[7]  M. Christl,et al.  Continuous 25-yr aerosol records at coastal Antarctica , 2011 .

[8]  V. Morgan,et al.  Snowfall increase in coastal East Antarctica linked with southwest Western Australian drought , 2010 .

[9]  I. Usoskin,et al.  A new 3D numerical model of cosmogenic nuclide 10Be production in the atmosphere , 2010 .

[10]  M. Frey,et al.  Photolysis imprint in the nitrate stable isotope signal in snow and atmosphere of East Antarctica and implications for reactive nitrogen cycling , 2009 .

[11]  A. Stohl,et al.  Asymmetries in the moisture origin of Antarctic precipitation , 2009 .

[12]  C. Fröhlich,et al.  Total solar irradiance during the Holocene , 2009 .

[13]  G. Schmidt,et al.  Model‐based constraints on interpreting 20th century trends in ice core 10Be , 2009 .

[14]  J. Beer,et al.  An updated simulation of particle fluxes and cosmogenic nuclide production in the Earth's atmosphere , 2009 .

[15]  S. Solanki,et al.  On the common solar signal in different cosmogenic isotope data sets , 2009 .

[16]  E. Mosley‐Thompson,et al.  High-resolution palaeoclimatology of the last millennium: a review of current status and future prospects , 2009 .

[17]  G. Schmidt,et al.  Interpreting 10Be changes during the Maunder Minimum , 2009 .

[18]  A. Aldahan,et al.  Atmospheric impact on beryllium isotopes as solar activity proxy , 2008 .

[19]  J. Beer,et al.  Meridional transport and deposition of atmospheric 10 Be , 2008 .

[20]  J. Beer,et al.  Beryllium-10 and beryllium-7 in precipitation in Dubendorf (440 m) and at Jungfraujoch (3580 m), Switzerland (1998-2005) , 2008 .

[21]  J. Jouzel,et al.  10Be measured in a GRIP snow pit and modeled using the ECHAM5‐HAM general circulation model , 2008 .

[22]  E. Meijgaard,et al.  Heat budget of the East Antarctic lower atmosphere derived from a regional atmospheric climate model , 2007 .

[23]  J. Beer,et al.  Modeling cosmogenic radionuclides 10 Be and 7 Be during the Maunder Minimum using the ECHAM5-HAM General Circulation Model , 2007 .

[24]  J. Southon,et al.  Absolute calibration of 10Be AMS standards , 2007 .

[25]  Andrew M. Smith,et al.  Evidence for climate modulation of the 10Be solar activity proxy , 2006 .

[26]  J. Beer,et al.  Large variations in Holocene solar activity: Constraints from 10Be in the Greenland Ice Core Project ice core , 2006 .

[27]  D. Sigman,et al.  Nitrogen and oxygen isotopic constraints on the origin of atmospheric nitrate in coastal Antarctica , 2006 .

[28]  G. Schmidt,et al.  Modeling production and climate‐related impacts on 10Be concentration in ice cores , 2006 .

[29]  A. Stohl.  Characteristics of atmospheric transport into the Arctic troposphere , 2006 .

[30]  V. Canuto,et al.  Present-Day Atmospheric Simulations Using GISS ModelE: Comparison to In Situ, Satellite, and Reanalysis Data , 2006 .

[31]  Kalevi Mursula,et al.  Heliospheric modulation of cosmic rays: Monthly reconstruction for 1951–2004 , 2005 .

[32]  S. Hudson,et al.  A Look at the Surface-Based Temperature Inversion on the Antarctic Plateau , 2005 .

[33]  K. G. McCracken,et al.  A phenomenological study of the long-term cosmic ray modulation, 850-1958 AD , 2004 .

[34]  O. Boucher,et al.  The aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM , 2004 .

[35]  T. V. van Ommen,et al.  Ultra-high-resolution seasonality of trace-ion species and oxygen isotope ratios in Antarctic firn over four annual cycles , 2004, Annals of Glaciology.

[36]  W. Webber,et al.  Production of cosmogenic Be nuclei in the Earth's atmosphere by cosmic rays: Its dependence on solar modulation and the interstellar cosmic ray spectrum , 2003 .

[37]  Manfred Mudelsee,et al.  Estimating Pearson's Correlation Coefficient with Bootstrap Confidence Interval from Serially Dependent Time Series , 2003 .

[38]  J. Feichter,et al.  Stratosphere–troposphere exchange in a changing climate simulated with the general circulation model MAECHAM4 , 2003 .

[39]  R. Finkel,et al.  10Be/7Be tracer of atmospheric transport and stratosphere‐troposphere exchange , 2003 .

[40]  Ian Simmonds,et al.  Synoptic Activity in the Seas around Antarctica , 2003 .

[41]  B. Barry,et al.  Atmospheric deposition of 7Be and 10Be in New Zealand rain (1996-98) , 2003 .

[42]  J. Lean,et al.  The effect of increasing solar activity on the Sun's total and open magnetic flux during multiple cycles: Implications for solar forcing of climate , 2002 .

[43]  V. Morgan,et al.  High-precision dating of volcanic events (A.D. 1301-1995) using ice cores from Law Dome, , 2001 .

[44]  Günther Zängl,et al.  The Tropopause in the Polar Regions , 2001 .

[45]  D. Etheridge,et al.  7Be and 10Be concentrations in recent firn and ice at Law Dome, Antarctica , 2000 .

[46]  S. Warren,et al.  Sulfate in air and snow at the South Pole: Implications for transport and deposition at sites with low snow accumulation , 2000 .

[47]  Fei Wu,et al.  Interannual variability of the tropical tropopause derived from radiosonde data and NCEP reanalyses , 2000 .

[48]  M. Heimann,et al.  Borehole versus isotope temperatures on Greenland: Seasonality does matter , 2000 .

[49]  J. Jouzel,et al.  Solar irradiance during the last 1200 years based on cosmogenic nuclides , 2000 .

[50]  J. Masarik,et al.  Simulation of particle fluxes and cosmogenic nuclide production in the Earth's atmosphere , 1999 .

[51]  M. Legrand,et al.  Atmospheric near‐surface nitrate at coastal Antarctic sites , 1998 .

[52]  G. König‐Langlo,et al.  Climatology of the three coastal Antarctic stations Dumont D'urville, Neumayer and Halley , 1998 .

[53]  D. Koch,et al.  Beryllium 10/beryllium 7 as a tracer of stratospheric transport , 1998 .

[54]  V. Morgan,et al.  Calibrating the ice core paleothermometer using seasonality , 1997 .

[55]  R. Reynolds,et al.  The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project , 1996, Renewable Energy.

[56]  J. Holton,et al.  Stratosphere‐troposphere exchange , 1995 .

[57]  M. Stuiver,et al.  Seasonal precipitation timing and ice core records. , 1994, Science.

[58]  L. Barrie,et al.  Estimation of stratospheric input to the Arctic troposphere: 7Be and 10Be in aerosols at Alert, Canada , 1994 .

[59]  P. Damon,et al.  The global beryllium 10 cycle , 1991 .

[60]  G. Raisbeck,et al.  Be as a probe of atmospheric transport processes , 1981 .

[61]  K. O'brien,et al.  Calculated cosmic ray neutron monitor response to solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays , 1973 .

[62]  J. Zillman,et al.  The surface temperature inversion over the Antarctic Continent , 1970 .

[63]  Paul Berrisford,et al.  Towards a climate data assimilation system: status update of ERA-interim , 2008 .

[64]  Fortunat Joos,et al.  Solar activity during the last 1000 yr inferred from radionuclide records , 2007 .

[65]  J. Beer,et al.  10Be concentration in the ice shelf of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica , 2005 .

[66]  T. V. van Ommen,et al.  Seasonal characteristics of the major ions in the high-accumulation Dome Summit South ice core, Law Dome, Antarctica , 1998, Annals of Glaciology.

[67]  T. V. van Ommen,et al.  Site information and initial results from deep ice drilling on Law Dome, Antarctica , 1997, Journal of Glaciology.

[68]  D. Wagenbach.  Coastal Antarctica: Atmospheric Chemical Composition and Atmospheric Transport , 1996 .

[69]  C. Davidson,et al.  The Deposition Of Particles and Gases to Ice Sheets , 1996 .

[70]  Y. Ishikawa,et al.  Precipitation scavenging studies of radionuclides in air using cosmogenic 7Be , 1995 .

[71]  J. Klein,et al.  Atmospheric deposition of 7Be and 10Be , 1989 .

[72]  R. Larsen,et al.  Factors that cause seasonal variations in beryllium-7 concentrations in surface air , 1989 .

[73]  G. Raisbeck,et al.  10Be in Polar Ice and Atmospheres , 1985, Annals of Glaciology.

[74]  W. Schwerdtfeger,et al.  Weather and climate of the Antarctic , 1984 .

[75]  D. Lal,et al.  COSMIC RAY PRODUCED RADIOACTIVITY ON THE EARTH. , 1967 .