ice2ice

PI meeting in Bergen

The East Greenland Ice: New history of the past millennium

Martin Miles
ABSTRACT The East Greenland Ice (Koch, 1945) is the immense belt of Arctic sea ice transported along the East Greenland Current (EGC) and its downstream extension along SW Greenland, where it is termed Storis. This represents the Earth’s largest pathway of sea ice and freshwater transport, with linkages to ocean circulation and climate-system variability. Here we synthesize historical and paleo proxy records to study two aspects of the natural variability of the East Greenland Ice: (1) multidecadal variability of sea ice in a multi-century context, and (2) constraining and understanding modulations during the past millennium, focused on the onset of the Little Ice Age.

First, we integrate and synthesize a set of multi-century historical records of sea ice, and establish a signal of pervasive and persistent multidecadal (60–90 year) fluctuations that is most pronounced in the Greenland Sea, and weakens further away. We highlight evidence for co-variability between sea ice and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) during the instrumental and historical record; similar covariability through previous centuries is evident from comparison of the longest historical records and proxy reconstructions of sea ice and the AMO.

Second, we present a multi-proxy study focused on constraining and understanding modulations during the past millennium. This is addressed through a synthesis of data records spanning the length of the extended EGC pathway. These are derived from marine sediment cores and are indicative of sea-ice and ocean conditions based on multiple proxies, including direct sea-ice proxies (IP 25 ) and indirect indicators (mineralogical and biological indicators, e.g., foraminifera and diatoms). We find reasonable coherence between the disparate records, particularly in the early 1300s – around the abrupt onset of the Little Ice Age in this region. Markedly enhanced export of sea ice from the Arctic Ocean can be inferred as a statistically extreme anomaly apparent not only along SW Greenland, but also upstream through the entire EGC pathway from the Arctic Ocean.

Finally, we compare the sea ice–ocean records with atmospheric (temperature and circulation indices) and other reconstructions. It is apparent that the changes in the East Greenland ice–ocean conditions occurred decades before well-documented changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation around
the early 1400s.

Applications are invited to attend the 2016 Advanced Climate Dynamics Course – this will be the 8th in a series of very exiting summer schools focusing on climate dynamics and aiming to mix students and faculty from different backgrounds to exchange and discuss current topics in the field.

Topic: Role of High Latitudes in Centennial to Millennial Scale Climate Variability
Date:  August 8th – August 20th, 2016
Where: Bonne Bay Research Station on Newfoundland

Goal:  To mix students and lecturers with empirical/proxy and dynamical training within climate science and focus on understanding the basic principles and dynamics behind centennial to millennial scale climate variability and their link to past, present and future changes to high latitude climate.

Confirmed lecturers:
David Battisti – University of Washington
Anne Jennings – Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Ray Bradley – University of Massachusetts Amherst
Alan Condron – University of Massachusetts Amherst
Julie Bringham Grette – University of Massachusetts Amherst
Tore Furevik – University of Bergen
Jake Gebbie – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Patrick Heimbach – The University of Texas at Austin / Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kerim H. Nisancioglu – University of Bergen
Øyvind Paasche – University of Bergen
Lev Tarasov – Memorial University of Newfoundland

Applications:
deadline is the 10th of March and we aim to send decision letters by early April. The application form is found here: http://www.resclim.no/2158.aspx

For further details of this (and info on earlier) summer courses, go to:

 http://www.uib.no/en/rs/acdc

Note that local expenses will be covered by the summer school. There will also be an opportunity to apply for a travel grant, which will cover part of the costs of travel to Newfoundland. If you have any questions, please contact: acdc@uib.no

PS! Flyer: http://www.uib.no/sites/w3.uib.no/files/attachments/acdc2016flyer_0.pdf

Proposed date for first Monthly meeting fall 2016.

Aim is to keep updated on ice2ice activities within and between the Bergen groups. Copenhagen colleagues are more than welcome. Contact Erik.

Agenda:

1. Short (10 min) summary from small meetings since May:
   • Workshop on proxy uncertainties for State estimates in MIS3 held in Bergen (May)-Christian Rodehacke
   • Proxy/model interaction -Helen/Bo?
   • Warm arctic Ocean (Sept)- Peter/Shuting
   • Paul and Marius on RECAP Holocene discussions in June

1. Discussion on how to produce back-trajectory maps of the source regions of aerosols reaching the Renland ice cap -Jens/Paul
2. Upcoming meetings:

• DO event workshop (Emilie)

If you have items for the agenda please let Hellek@fys.ku.dk know. And as always we would love to see also some of our Norwegian colleagues.

More info contact Erwin Lambert <Erwin.Lambert@uib.no>

+ 33 1 69084672,

The workshop on abrupt climate change is organized within the framework of the Ice2Ice and ANA-Clim projects.

The workshop will take place on October 3-5, 2016 in Bergen (Lecture Room, Uni Research Health, Nygårdsporten, Nygårdsgaten 112).  We aim to start Monday morning facilitating that Copenhagen based people may join by taking either SAS or Norwegian departing 0800 and 0820 respectively and end Wednesday afternoon. We will organize a workshop dinner on Tuesday evening.

Continental, marine and polar paleoclimate records preserve abundant evidence of “Dansgaard-Oeshger” (DO) events, a series of abrupt climate events occurring during the last glacial period, with different expressions over the entire globe. Various paradigms have been proposed to explain their existence and evolution, including mechanisms involving rapid changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, Arctic sea-ice cover, continental ice sheets, and ice shelves. Still, aspects of these abrupt climate changes remain poorly understood.

The objectives of this workshop are:

– to familiarize the Ice2Ice community with this manifestation of millennial scale climate variability as recorded in the various paleoclimatic archives and in terms of existing mechanisms proposed to explain them

– to discuss, in light of new high resolution datasets, the spatial and temporal signature of climate and environmental changes associated with the DO events

– to discuss the use of existing and new model simulations to constrain possible mechanisms and reject hypotheses which do not satisfy the observations

Invited speakers (with additions to be made as confirmations are received): Jorge Alvarez-Solas (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Steven Barker (Cardiff University), David Battisti (University of Washington), Franck Bassinot from LSCE (Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, France)

Please send your expression of interest by filling this form (click here for link) by 30.7. There will be limited space available. In the eventuality that we need to proceed to a selection process for participation, we kindly ask you to include in your expression of interest a short description of your research experience as it relates to the workshop focus and of the work you would like to present.
We look forward to hearing from you.

Accommodation info: 

We have reserved 20 rooms at Scandic Ørnen.

This hotel is located just up the street from where the meeting will be held.

5 of these rooms are reserved from October 2-6 (4 nights) and the rest are reserved October 3-5.

The price of the room is NOK 1312,- per night including breakfast, not including the taxes.

These rooms are only being held until September 15. After this date, you will have to find your own hotel in Bergen.

You can book by e-mail at meeting.ornen@scandichotels.com or call the hotel directly at +47 55 37 50 00. Give the order reference BUNI021016.

More information about this hotel can be found here.

Contacts:

Emilie Capron, capron@nbi.ku.dk

Kerim Nisancioglu, kerim@bjerknes.uib.no

Trond Dokken, trond.dokken@uni.no

Camille Li, camille@uib.no

Admin: Erik Sandquist, erik.sandquist@uni.no

PI meeting in Bergen

Contact Sarah/Trond/Bo/ for interes