CL4.9

The revised late Pleistocene chronostratigraphy of the Arctic Ocean based on the pre-2000 magnetostratigraphic interpretation and chronological information from the decay of U-series daughter isotopes in sediments leads to reassigning "warm" vs "cold" climatostratigraphic intervals to distinct interglacial, interstadial, or stadial stages and shows a realistic linkage with high latitude insolation parameters and the global sea-level history. "Warm" episodes then match intervals with summer season insolation and sea-level elevation peaking above those of the early Holocene. Whereas the whole summer season insolation governs heat fluxes towards the Arctic Ocean, in relation with the North Atlantic Water inflow, sea level plays a complementary role as it governs the submergence of the Arctic Ocean shelves and the development of “sea-ice factories”. Sea level also controls the flux of warm and low-salinity Pacific water through the shallow Bering Strait, thus the heat budget of the Western Arctic and the salinity budget of the whole Arctic Ocean. The combination of both parameters indicates that climate conditions during recent interglacials were of distinct amplitude and timing vs those at lower latitudes. From MIS 10 to MIS 1, five short "warm" intervals (MIS 1, 3, 5e, 7, 9) were characterized by sea-ice rafting deposition of smectite and detrital carbonate-rich sediments with ²³⁰Th-excesses along major drifting sea-ice routes TransPolar Drift; Beaufort Gyre). These layers alternate with coarser layers linked to sporadic and short-duration, Circum-Arctic glacier surges, deposited during stadials. In contradistinction, the MIS 14 to MIS 10 interval have experienced a thick ice-cover (perennial ice or ice shelf) during long periods, including MIS 11 and possibly MIS 13. These interglacials depict relatively a low summer season insolation in contrast with that of other interglacials. Another feature merging from this revision is the shortness of the intervals with seasonally open sea-ice conditions. Often recorded by a few cm-thick sedimentary layers, these intervals are in phase with the mean summer season insolation (not the June solstice peak) and may have lasted a few ka at most, based on the example of the Holocene. Feedbacks from the Arctic Ocean towards climate/ocean conditions at lower latitudes include i) the effect of its sea-ice on albedo and latitudinal pressure gradients, and ii) the impact of its freshwater export on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Due to its specific response to insolation and sea-level changes, the Arctic Ocean may have thus triggered out of phase climate and AMOC fluctuations during interglacials at lower latitudes, but it has globally remained a sediment-starved glacial ocean throughout most of the Brunhes epoch.

How to cite: Hillaire-Marcel, C., de Vernal, A., and Crucifix, M.: The revised Quaternary climatostratigraphy of the Arctic Ocean: linkages with insolation and sea-level changes, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-619, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-619, 2022.

The shallow (~ 50 m deep) Bering Strait, which is the unique gateway linking the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, deserves special attention as sea-level changes modify considerably the exchanges between the two oceans. Under high sea level, poleward heat transfer and freshwater fluxes from the Pacific impact the Arctic freshwater budget and sea ice distribution. Furthermore, sea level determines the status of the Arctic shelves, submerged or not, which plays a role in sea-ice production, as well as in the latent heat from Atlantic waters flowing northward through Fram Strait and the Barents Sea. Hence, high sea levels result in the connection of the Arctic basin with the Pacific, which modifies the Arctic freshwater and heat budgets and leads to the submergence of shelves, thus the potential development of sea-ice factories. The impacts of sea-level on the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas are not easily reconstructed from sedimentary records, but radiocarbon-based chronologies and proxy-data covering the present interglacial provide useful information. For example, micropaleontological and geochemical records from the Chukchi Sea show progressive warming in surface water accompanying the increase of Pacific flux during the Holocene, until sea-level reached its present-day limit at ~ 4 ka BP. This contrasts with a trend towards perennial sea-ice cover in the southeastern Arctic and with changes at the eastern gateway of the Fram Strait, where cooling is recorded from early to late Holocene. Hence, we hypothesize that increased freshwater inflow from the Pacific into the Arctic together with enhanced sea-ice formation rates, both linked to sea-level rise, may have played a role in the general cooling trend culminating during the late Holocene.

How to cite: de Vernal, A., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Song, T., Liu, Y., and Falardeau, J.: Sea level and the Bering Strait gateway as determinant parameters in the ocean dynamics as illustrated from pan-Arctic Holocene records, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2057, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2057, 2022.

The Lancaster Sound is currently one of the pathways for Arctic water and ice entering Baffin Bay. However, this gateway was blocked by the coalescing Laurentide and Innuitian Ice Sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum and only opened during the early Holocene after the various ice sheets had retreated (Dyke et al., 2002; Dalton et al., 2020). Core GeoB22336-4 is a well radiocarbon-dated sediment record from the Lancaster Sound Trough Mouth. Sedimentological and geochemical (elemental and mineralogical) properties of this core revealed four major units: (i) the deglacial unit (~14.5 – 9.7 ka BP) with a dense, foraminifera-free, gravel-rich diamict (>14.0 ka BP) that captures proximal ice-margin conditions, probably deposited under an extended thick ice-shelf environment, overlain by rapidly deposited gravel-bearing sandy-silty mud with intercalated turbidite layers reflecting strong input of ice-rafted material and mass wasting, likely resulting from the fast landward retreat of bordering ice sheets in response to regional warming; (ii) the early Holocene unit (~9.7 – 8 ka BP) characterized by a drop in sedimentation rate and the absence of ice-rafted material and reduction in detrital carbonates, suggesting a switch from tide-water to predominately land-terminating glaciers during glacial retreat; (iii) the unit deposited contemporaneously with the regional Holocene Optimum (~8 – 5.9 ka BP; Ledu et al., 2010; Jennings et al., 2011; St-Onge & St-Onge 2014) consists of rapidly deposited rather fine-grained sediments (up to 52 cm ka^-1) possibly related to enhanced meltwater- and/or sea-ice-driven sediment input; and (iv) the neoglacial unit (<5.9 ka BP) with reduced sedimentation rates, a sediment provenance switch from calcite-dominated to dolomite-dominated detrital carbonates, and an increased organic matter flux to the seafloor, which led to a four-fold increase in bioturbation. This diverse sedimentary record reflects the complex ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions controlling the sedimentary dynamics and sediment provenance in northwestern Baffin Bay from the last deglaciation through the Holocene. It sheds light on the complex interaction between sediments delivered by local meltwater sources, mass wasting, iceberg and sea ice-rafting, the opening of the Arctic gateways through Lancaster Sound and Nares Strait, and the influence of warm Atlantic Water (AW). In addition, the Arctic Oscillation (AO) possibly governs surface waters and primary production in northern Baffin Bay including the development and extension of the North Water Polynya (NOW).

How to cite: Okuma, E., Titschack, J., Weiser, J., Kienast, M., Vogt, C., and Hebbeln, D.: Deglacial to Holocene changes in sediment characteristics and provenance in core GeoB22336-4 from Lancaster Sound Trough Mouth: Implications for environmental conditions in northwestern Baffin Bay, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8403, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8403, 2022.

The retreat of the Laurentide and Innuitian Ice Sheets in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) during the late Quaternary led to the opening of Arctic gateways and the inflow of low salinity Arctic waters into Baffin Bay. Studies on marine sediments focusing on the timing and deglaciation pattern of Canadian Archipelago straits mainly concentrated on the Holocene. Here we present two marine radiogenic isotope records from the mouth of Lancaster Sound (GeoB22336-4) and from Barrow Strait (PS72/287) that cover the last ~14.5 ka BP, thus encompass the earlier deglaciation stage. The radiogenic isotope composition (Nd, Sr, Pb) of the detrital sediment fraction serves as provenance tracer and provides information on changing position of the ice margin and oceanographic conditions. Data from both sediment cores show contributions from highly variable source areas during deglaciation in response to the dynamics of the glacier termini involved. However, a strong influence of detrital carbonates, likely eroded from carbonate outcrops of the CAA and northern Baffin Island, by retreating ice, constitutes a dominant feature. Later, the post-glacial deposits recorded more uniform radiogenic isotope signatures until the mid/late Holocene transition, indicating relatively stable environmental conditions. In addition to local sources, isotope compositions in Lancaster Sound illustrate an increasing influence of sediments from Barrow Strait and thus the setting of oceanographic conditions enabling sediment transport from the central CAA towards the NW Baffin Bay. According to these observations and based on a preliminary age model, complete deglaciation with subsequent flushing of major channels is assumed to have occurred at approximately 10 ka BP. During the late Holocene, slightly changing Sr, Pb, and Nd isotope signatures in both cores probably indicate renewed regional ice advances in response to the neoglacial cooling.

How to cite: Hingst, J., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Lucassen, F., Okuma, E., and Kasemann, S.: Late Quaternary deglaciation pattern of Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait traced by radiogenic isotope records in marine sediments, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11174, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11174, 2022.

The last glacial termination is an unstable transition state characterized by abrupt climate changes, while the related physical mechanisms are still not fully understood. Here, we present well-dated high-resolution sedimentary records from the eastern Labrador Sea representing the last 23 ka. Based on our biomarker records, there was seasonal to permanent sea ice cover before 11.7 ka BP. During 11.7 to 8.2 ka BP, ice-free conditions were interrupted by several sea ice expansions, while no sea ice after 8.2 ka BP. Besides Heinrich Event 1, four prominent cold events have been identified during 14 ka to 8.2 ka BP. These abrupt events are marked by increases in sea ice, decreases in sea surface temperature, and weak deep current intensity. We propose that these events were mainly triggered by collapses of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and/or Greenland Ice Sheet, resulting in icebergs/meltwater in pulses into the Labrador Sea. This caused surface freshening, which potentially promoted the stratification of surface water, prevented the northward inflow of Atlantic Water, and limited deep water production in the Nordic Seas, consequently disrupting the climate.

How to cite: You, D., Stein, R., and Fahl, K.: Abrupt climate changes caused by meltwater pulses in the Labrador Sea during the last glacial termination, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4935, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4935, 2022.

It is unequivocal that the climate is changing; marine terminating glaciers in Northeast Greenland (NEG) have experienced rapid speedup and retreat in recent decades as a result. The Zachariae Isstrøm (ZI) began accelerating in 2000, resulting in the total collapse of its floating ice tongue. This has been partly attributed to basal melting caused by the warming of Atlantic Water (AW). Unfortunately, our understanding of the interaction between these entities is somewhat limited by the length of instrumental records. Examining proxies preserved in marine sediment cores provides an alternative method to understand these changes on longer timescales.

Here we apply a multi-proxy approach (XRF, benthic foraminifera, stable isotopes, grain size, CT scans) to marine sediment core DA17-NG-ST08-092G, collected from the NEG continental shelf, 90km east of the ZI terminus. Our results indicate that the site was free of grounded ice at least as early as 12.5 ka cal BP, and most likely before 13.4 ka cal BP. The inflow of AW onto the continental shelf may have played a role in the seemingly early deglaciation at this site. Between 13.4 and 11.2 ka cal BP the site was overlain by a floating ice tongue, most likely the ZI, with AW and PW flowing beneath. Following this, the ZI briefly retreated westwards (11.2-10.8 ka cal BP) before it re-advanced (10.8-9.6 ka cal BP); there was a strong influx of AW throughout these periods. Between 9.6 and 7.9 ka cal BP the ZI retreated westwards again, before a drastic shift in ocean circulation occurred at 7.9 ka cal BP. At this time, there was a sharp decline in AW corresponding to an increase in PW flowing beneath perennial sea ice. In the final part of the record, AW returns and there was likely a breakup of the perennial sea ice.

How to cite: Davies, J., Møller Mathiasen, A., Kristiansen, K., Elnegaard Hansen, K., Wacker, L., Kristian Olsen Alstrup, A., Lajord Munk, O., Pearce, C., and Seidenkrantz, M.-S.: Linkages between ocean circulation and the Zachariae Isstrøm in the Early Holocene, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5289, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5289, 2022.

The NE Greenland shelf, together with the Fram Strait, form the main sea ice and cold-water transport pathway between the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic seas. As such, these regions play a part in the Atlantic meridional overturning cell that is driven by the thermohaline convection taking place in subpolar and Polar regions. The ocean circulation, freshwater export and sea ice extent are heavily influenced by the interplay of oceanography, climate, glacial landforms and bathymetry.

Over the outer NE Greenland shelf, a layer of low salinity, cold Polar Water overlies a body of Atlantic Water (AW) that is either recirculated directly across the Fram Strait or further in the Arctic Ocean from where it returns as colder, modified Arctic-Atlantic Water. The relative contributions of these two types of AW recirculation bear significant implications to the deep-water formation and thus, the global ocean circulation, but little is known about the change in AW source over time and how it affects the local environmental settings.

This study aims to describe the paleoceanographic development of the outer Norske Trough using a multi-proxy approach to sediment gravity core DA17-NG-ST12-135G.  The core was taken on the NorthGreen17 Expedition from the outmost location in an east-west transect of cores along the trough. When combined with the other cores, it can be used to reconstruct the  oceanic forcing on the northeastern Greenland Ice Sheet  and its deglaciation history along the Norske Trough. The data used includes AMS ¹⁴C dating, sedimentary description, grain size analysis, µ-XRF core scanning and benthic foraminifera analysis. The preliminary results suggest intermittent early AW water influence and high seasonal productivity just east of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream grounding line during the early deglaciation. AW influence on the outer NE Greenland Shelf is relatively constant after the deglaciation, but changes in productivity and current strengths are captured by the data.

How to cite: Junna, T., Pearce, C., Hansen, K., Davies, J., Quirós, A., and Seidenkrantz, M.-S.: Late Glacial paleoceanography in the outer Norske Trough, NE Greenland, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9431, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9431, 2022.

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS), the second largest ice sheet on Earth, has experienced a dramatic ice mass reduction during the last decades, coincident with global warming and an increase in atmospheric CO₂. About 16% of the GIS is currently drained via marine terminating glaciers, mostly through the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS; with ~12%). Two cross-shelf troughs (Norske and Westwind troughs) served as drainage pathways of the NEGIS. According to numerical ice-sheet models, a whole meltdown of the GIS may cause a global sea−level rise of >7 m, causing permanent damage to the environment and countless economic impacts on our coastal society. In order to better understand the processes driving these present changes, studies of the development of glaciers/glacial troughs and ice sheets in response to past climate changes are required for testing numerical models that seek to predict ice-sheet response to anthropogenic climate change.

In this study, high-resolution INNOMAR sediment subbottom profiler data combined to multi-proxy analyses of gravity core DA17-NG-ST10-117G, obtained from Norske Trough during the NorthGreen17 expedition, are investigated. Multi-proxy data derived from the sediment gravity core include ¹⁴C-derived ages, descriptions of sedimentary units, compositional variability of ice-rafted debris, and continuous logging of magnetic susceptibility and micro-XRF core scanning. In Norske Trough, submarine glacial landforms indicate that ice sheet retreat to the outer middle shelf after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was stepwise, with phases of grounding line stabilization, while ice sheet retreat from the middle shelf to the coastline during deglaciation was fast. Sedimentological evidence at our recorded coring site captures the transition from sub–ice stream (subglacial) environments to proximal (proglacial)/distal glaciomarine conditions during the LGM to Holocene recession. In addition, preliminary foraminifera analysis indicates warmer recirculating Atlantic Water on the middle Norske Trough immediately on deglaciation, suggesting that oceanic forcing very likely played a significant role during the retreat of the ice margin. This presentation will include a comprehensive comparison of the spatio-temporal sedimentation patterns across the Norske Trough.

How to cite: López-Quirós, A., Andresen, K. J., Davies, J., Junna, T., Nielsen, T., Pearce, C., and Seidenkrantz, M.-S.: Retreat of the Northeast Greenland ice stream during the last glacial termination - a case study from Norske Trough, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4347, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4347, 2022.

During the last two decades, rising ocean temperatures have significantly contributed to accelerated mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The melting of the ice sheet is now the single largest contributor to global mean sea level rise. Warming subsurface Atlantic Intermediate Water (AIW) found on the wide continental shelf of Northeast Greenland and in the fjords interacts with marine-terminating glaciers, which until recently were considered stable, and causes their rapid melting and retreat. The main source of these waters is the westward recirculation of subducted Atlantic Water (AW) in Fram Strait, which has shown a warming of up to 1°C over the past few decades.

The variability of the AIW on the Northeast Greenland (NEG) shelf is investigated using historical hydrographic observations and high-resolution numerical simulations with the Finite-Element-Sea ice-Model (FESOM2). There is excellent agreement of both the mean and long-term distribution of AIW on the shelf between the model and observations. The two main circulation regimes of AW in Fram Strait are also well-replicated by the numerical simulations.

The dominant variability of the AIW temperature occurs at interannual timescales. A shelf-wide process drives this variability of AIW temperatures. EOF analysis shows that over 81% of the variance of maximum AIW temperatures is explained by the first mode, which features a monopol-like pattern across the whole NEG shelf. There is a strong co-variability between the maximum AIW temperature and the volume transport of AIW towards the glaciers, which moves through the deep trough system as a bottom intensified jet and recirculates on the shelf. A connection between the AIW temperatures on the shelf and the AW boundary current along the shelf edge suggests the East Greenland Current influences AIW properties. An increase in strength of the current corresponds to greater AIW volume transport through the trough system, and also warmer AIW and AW temperatures on both the shelf and off the continental slope. This suggests that the drivers of variability of AIW temperatures on the NEG shelf may be found further offshore, with a connection to AW circulation in Fram Strait.

How to cite: McPherson, R., Wekerle, C., and Kanzow, T.: Variability of Atlantic Water on shelf of Northeast Greenland: Patterns and Drivers, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11646, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11646, 2022.

Source-specific highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) have been recently served as a binary or semi-quantitative biomarker to indicate the sea ice extent in the past. Since the light intensity controlled by overlying snow cover and sea ice thickness has a significant impact on the productivity of photoautotrophic organisms and environmental water is the sole source of the hydrogen for the biosynthesis of these organisms, the hydrogen isotope ratio (²H/¹H) of HBIs holds the potential to reveal more characteristics of sea ice. In this study, based on the observation of natural settings underneath sea ice, diatom Pleurosigma intermedium were grown at irradiances from 20 to 300 μmol m^-2 s^-1 in laboratory conditions and harvested from exponential phase and stationary phase respectively to investigate the effect of light and growth phase on hydrogen isotope fractionation in HBIs. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) screening showed that a triene (C25:3) and a tetraene (C25:4) C25 HBI alkene were detected in all samples from varying irradiances. A remarkable decline of the ratio of C25:3/C25:4 from higher to lower irradiances was observed. However, there was no significant change in the concentration of C14 (myristic), C16:1 (palmitoleic) and C16 (palmitic) fatty acids with varying light intensity. In addition, terpenoids such as phytol, squalene and range of sterols were also be identified. Published studies on phytol, fatty acid and sterol from Thalassiosira pseudonana and alkenones from Emiliania huxleyi have shown dramatic changes in hydrogen isotope fractionation and concluded that the source of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and the operation of acetogenic pathway, plastidic methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) and/or cytosolic mevalonic acid (MVA) of lipids are the key factors controlling ²H/¹H fractionation. The integration of molecular distribution of HBIs, fatty acids and terpenoids in Pleurosigma intermedium together with our ongoing work on their ²H/¹H and ¹³C/¹²C compositions will lead to a better understanding of diatom metabolism and biochemistry under different light conditions. This knowledge will be instrumental to a more robust interpretation of stable isotope data from environmental samples and thus will contribute to further developing HBI biomarkers as a tool for estimating not only the absence/presence of sea ice but also the ice type, thickness, and snow cover.

How to cite: Gao, S., Zhao, Y., Zhou, Y., Smik, L., Belt, S., Mock, T., and Pedentchouk, N.: The effect of irradiance on lipids of highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) producing diatom culture of Pleurosigma intermedium: towards stable isotope proxies for the paleo sea-ice reconstructions, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8979, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8979, 2022.

The Greenland ice sheet outputs freshwater into the Greenlandic fjords in the form of icebergs and liquid meltwater. This freshwater flux affects the fjords’ water circulation and ecosystems. In recent decades, the mass loss from the ice sheet has increased causing an increasing volume of liquid and solid freshwater to enter the fjords and ocean around Greenland. The total volume of freshwater is currently challenging to determine on a fjord-basin scale due to disparate products that are difficult to compare and combine into a cohesive product. This entails that the effect of the glacially derived freshwater on fjord circulation and ecosystem is not well constrained.

Here, we present a new glacier-basin scale product that combines three existing products into a shared temporal and spatial framework. We use publicly available datasets of solid ice discharge (icebergs), surface meltwater run-off, and basal melt to present a cohesive overview of the influx of freshwater to the Greenlandic fjords. We then quantify the different dominant term for each glacier. The dataset will be freely available and will be of use to, for example, oceanographic and marine biological research activities.

This work was supported by PROMICE (Programme for Monitoring the Greenland Ice Sheet, GEUS) and ESA Polar+ 4D Greenland.

How to cite: Karlsson, N. B., Mankoff, K. D., Solgaard, A. M., Larsen, S. H., Fausto, R. S., and Sørensen, L. S.: Monthly-resolved Freshwater Flux from the Greenland Ice Sheet on a Glacier-Basin Scale, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-1648, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-1648, 2022.

Climate warming with permafrost thaw will modify lateral carbon export, from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems with a potential huge impact on the Arctic rivers, draining organic-rich soils and in fine into the Arctic Ocean. The majority of annual DOC fluxes by Arctic rivers are transported during the snowmelt break-up period, which makes field measurements of DOC difficult. Passive spatial remote sensing is a very relevant tool to increase the spatial and temporal coverage of these observed values.

In the framework of the French CNES DOC-Rivers project we proposed to apply the approach consisting in analyzing satellite imageries to evaluate DOC concentrations in the 6 great Arctic Rivers: Lena, Ob’, Yenisey, Yukon, MacKenzie, Kolyma. The algorithm, first, establishes a multi-linear relationship between ground-based chromatic dissolved organic matter (CDOM) observations and specific satellite color bands to construct a complete satellite CDOM database. Another linear regression is used afterward with in-situ data from the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory (ArcticGRO) initiative to correlate CDOM and DOC observations. Using this second linear regression, we can predict the DOC content from the previous construct satellite CDOM database. River discharge measurements from the ArcticGRO database also enable to estimate the evolution of DOC export to the Arctic Ocean from satellite data.

We applied this approach to high-resolution satellite data issued from Sentinel 2 (A 2015-2022, B 2017-2022) and Landsat 8 (2013-2022) to create a multi-instrumental synergy. This new database provides an unprecedented source of information for understanding DOC dynamics of in Arctic rivers and assessing its transfer from large catchments to the Arctic Ocean. This database provides information on the variability of DOC during the whole ice-free season and serve to locate areas with higher concentrations and fluxes during the 2013-2021 period. We plan to complement our database on future period with data from new satellite missions (Landsat 9, Sentinel 2C), on the present time with data from on-going missions (Sentinel 3, MODIS) and on past period with data from low resolution observations as Landsat 5 and Landsat 7. This extension of the database over a longer period of time will furnish insight in response to climate warming.

How to cite: Jégou, F., Jallais, G., Salmon, E., Guenet, B., Herrault, P.-A., Gogo, S., Gandois, L., Guimbaud, C., Laggoun-Defarge, F., Moulard, N., Teisserenc, R., and Moquet, J.-S.: Variability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the 6 largest Arctic rivers estimated using high resolution Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 imageries over the 2013-2021 period., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9645, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9645, 2022.

Since the end of the 20th century, Greenland has been the largest contributor to sea level rise.  As temperatures continue to increase, this tendency is projected to continue.  This has resulted in numerous studies which evaluate present and future conditions of the Greenland Ice Sheet, many of which use general circulation models (GCMs). The majority of these focus on sea level rise and/or surface mass balance. While some analyses of atmospheric processes have been undertaken, these have typically been over a larger scale (Arctic or Greenland).  This has led to a lack of regional studies of atmospheric processes and how they are represented in GCMs, particularly over northeast Greenland, an area of increased interest in both its glaciology and atmosphere.

To address this, 67 CMIP6 GCM realizations were subject to the Pickler and Mölg (2021) model selection procedure to determine the most suitable realization over northeast Greenland.  The historical simulation of these realizations were evaluated for: (i) their ability to capture the space-time climatic anomalies over 1979-2014 with respect to ERA5 reanalysis data and (ii) their ability to simulate the mean climatic state of northeast Greenland with respect to four automated weather stations over 2009-2020.  MPI-ESM1-2-HR r6i1p1f1 was found to rank highest and ACCESS-ESM1-5 r10i1p1f1 lowest.

The 67 realizations were then evaluated on their ability to capture two important processes influencing the region: the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Greenland blocking (GBI).  All realizations were able to simulate the NAO during boreal winter, while all failed to capture the GBI during boreal summer.  Furthermore, the ability of the top and bottom ranked realizations to simulate precipitation, katabatic winds, sea ice, and warm-air events were examined. This analysis reveals key differences between the representation of regional climates within the GCMs, which highlights the need for a rigorous selection procedure prior to estimating future changes.

How to cite: Pickler, C., Turton, J., Mölg, T., and McCrystall, M.: The representation of atmospheric processes in northeast Greenland in CMIP6 models, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3499, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3499, 2022.

How to cite: Outten, S. and Li, C.: Eurasian wintertime cooling: New perspectives from an updated synthesis, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7438, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7438, 2022.

Several recent cold winters in North America and Western Europe has drawn attention on the possible increase in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme events in the mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere. Whether these could result form a strengthening or weakening of the circumpolar vortex and/or shift in the position of the North Atlantic storm track is still a matter of hot debate. A less known player in this conundrum is the dynamics of the Siberian High, one of the major semi–permanent and quasi–stationary weather systems in the Northern Hemisphere; active in winter and associated with dense and cold air masses over Asia and East Europe. The causes behind the variability of the of the Siberian High (strengthening and south and westwards expansion) are still poorly understood, yet important in the context of future climatic changes expected in the core area of its manifestation. In this context, we present here an overview of the present and past (~5000 years) dynamics of the Siberian High, based on 1) modern climate data from Asia and Eastern Europe and 2) proxy-based reconstructions of winter climatic conditions (temperature and precipitation amount). Our analysis starts with a instrumental-based investigation of the mechanisms behind the onset, strengthening and westward expansion of the high-pressure cell centered over North Asia. We further construct and test several hypotheses behind these mechanisms and test them by analyzing the dynamics of winter conditions during several episodes of particularly cold events in the Northern hemisphere (at 4.2 ka BP, 2.8 ka BP, 1.3 ka BP, 0.8-0.2 ka BP). We tentatively suggest that high insolation gradients between summer and winter in the high–latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere could result in the weakening of the polar vortex and increase in the meandering behavior of the jet that leads to an early onset of winter in North Asia. The expanding snow cover reinforces the strength of the Siberian High, leading to its expansion towards south and west and thus bringing colder conditions in West Asia and Europe. Future Arctic amplification could result in a higher frequency of similar behavior of the climate system, thus leading to more frequent and stronger cold spells across Europe.

How to cite: Perşoiu, A. and Ionita, M.: The Beast from the East - winter atmospheric blocking over Eastern Europe during the Late Holocene and its role in regional climate variability, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5951, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5951, 2022.

The Arctic amplification is driven by several intertwined causes including the interplay of locally positive radiative feedbacks. The lapse-rate feedback (LRF) is a dominant driver of Arctic amplification and arises from the vertically non-uniform warming in the troposphere. In the Arctic, the LRF enforces a positive radiative feedback as the warming is most pronounced at the surface, but becomes smaller at higher altitudes which feedbacks positively on the initial greenhouse effect. This stands in contrast to the processes in the tropics, where a stronger warming of the upper troposphere dampens the greenhouse effect.

We investigate the nature of the Arctic LRF by using ERA5 Reanalyses and CMIP6 models to compute the feedback via simplified radiative transfer calculations (radiative kernels).

The Arctic LRF is unique in terms of its geographic distribution, seasonality and time evolution. From a global perspective, the LRF is most positive in Arctic winter, but shows the strongest seasonality as it becomes negative in summer over the sea ice covered ocean. Our trend analysis shows that the positive winter LRF increased strongly during the past 30 to 40 years. This increase during boreal winter mediates the annual response and accounts for all Arctic surface types which we define as sea ice, sea ice retreat, open ocean and land. A special focus lies on regions of retreating sea ice, where the positive LRF is strongest throughout the year.

Our results are embedded in previous studies on the changing Arctic atmospheric energy budget through CO2-driven climate change. They show strongly increasing surface heat fluxes over areas of retreating sea ice which is mostly compensated by a decrease in atmospheric transport convergence, both of which can shape the maximum of the high-latitude positive LRF.

We finally carry out an inter-model comparison of linear trends of the Arctic LRF during the past 30 years of historical CMIP6 simulations. This includes more than 50 models to determine the performance of each model by relating to reanalyses data.

How to cite: Linke, O., Quaas, J., and Smith, C.: The nature of the Arctic lapse-rate feedback: Spatial distribution, seasonality and trends in ERA5 and CMIP6 data, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5172, 2022.

Arctic sea ice loss in recent decades has been proposed to influence atmospheric circulation at lower latitudes, producing feedbacks that amplify ice loss via thermodynamic and mechanical forcing. One proposed teleconnection pathway arises from autumn Barents-Kara sea ice reduction and leads to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in winter. The existence of such a pathway could improve predictions of  European weather on subseasonal to seasonal timescales. While autumn sea ice and the winter NAO are significantly correlated in satellite-era observations, this correlation appears to be absent in  coupled climate models, calling into question the underlying mechanism. By subsampling long simulations to create satellite-length records, we find a small number of samples across a range of CMIP5 and CMIP6 models that reproduce the observed correlation. In these samples, we observe similar circulation signals (e.g., weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex) as in the observations, but there is no evidence for a driving role from sea ice changes via turbulent heat fluxes. Rather than sea ice, blocking of the atmospheric circulation by the Ural mountains appears to be the key precursor to the winter NAO signal. Overall, our findings reconcile differences between observations and models in representing this Arctic-midlatitude teleconnection, and highlight the important role of atmospheric internal variability in Arctic change. 

How to cite: Siew, P. Y. F., Li, C., Ting, M., Sobolowski, S., Wu, Y., and Chen, X.: Atmospheric internal variability shapes the Arctic change and its feedback on local and remote circulation, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5982, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5982, 2022.