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Impact of Source Region on the delta18 O signal in snow: A case study from Mount Wrangell AlaskaThe stable isotopic composition of water in ice cores is an important source of information on past climate variability. At its simplest level, the underlying assumption is that there is an empirical relationship between the normalized difference in the concentration for these stable isotopes and a specified local temperature at the ice core site. There are, however, nonlocal processes, such as a change in source region or a change in the atmospheric pathway, which can impact the stable isotope signal, thereby complicating its use as a proxy for temperature. In this paper, the importance of these nonlocal processes are investigated through the analysis of the synoptic-scale circulation during a snowfall event at the summit of Mount Wrangell (62 deg N, 144 deg W; 4300 m MSL) in south-central Alaska. During this event there was, over a 1-day period in which the local temperature was approximately constant, a change in delta18 O that exceeded half that normally seen to occur in the region between summer and winter. As shall be shown, this arose from a change in the source region, from the subtropical eastern Pacific to northeastern Asia, for the snow that fell on Mount Wrangell during the event.



Document ID
20160001410
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Moore, G.W.K.
(Toronto Univ. Ontario, Canada)
Field, Robert D.
(Toronto Univ. Ontario, Canada)
Benson, Carl S.
(Alaska Univ. Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Date Acquired
February 2, 2016
Publication Date
January 1, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Hydrometeorology
Publisher: American Meteorological Society
Volume: 17
Issue: 1
ISSN: 1525-7541
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN29080
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNH13ZDA001N
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX14AB99A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Snow
Wrangell Mountains
Isotopes

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