Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Title

Annals of Glaciology

Rights and Access Note

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Publication Date

2004

First Page

585

Last Page

594

Volume Number

39

Abstract/ Summary

Thirteen annually resolved accumulation-rate records covering the last similar to 200 years from the Pine Island-Thwaites and Ross drainage systems and the South Pole are used to examine climate variability over West Antarctica. Accumulation is controlled spatially by the topography of the ice sheet, and temporally by changes in moisture transport and cyclonic activity. A comparison of mean accumulation since 1970 at each site to the long-term mean indicates an increase in accumulation for sites located in the western sector of the Pine Island-Thwaites drainage system. Accumulation is negatively associated with the Southern Oscillation Index (Sol) for sites near the ice divide, and periods of sustained negative Sol (1940-42, 1991-95) correspond to above-mean accumulation at most sites. Correlations of the accumulation-rate records with sea-level pressure (SLP) and the SOI suggest that accumulation near the ice divide and in the Ross drainage system may be associated with the midlatitudes. The post-1970 increase in accumulation coupled with strong SLP-accumulation-rate correlations near the coast suggests recent intensification of cyclonic activity in the Pine Island-Thwaites drainage system.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Kaspari, S, Mayewski, PA, Dixon, DA, Spikes, VB, Sneed, SB, Handley, MJ, and Hamilton, GS, 2004, Climate Variability in West Antarctica Derived from Annual Accumulation-Rate Records from Itase Firn/Ice Cores: Annals of Glaciology, Vol 39, 2005, v. 39, p. 585-594. Available on publisher's site at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/igsoc/agl/2004/00000039/00000001/art00088

Publisher Statement

© Copyright 2004 by the International Glaciological Society

DOI

10.3189/172756404781814447

Version

publisher's version of the published document

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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.