Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic’s last ice area during the Early Holocene

Henrieka Detlef; Matt O’Regan; Christian Stranne; Mads Mørk Jensen; Marianne Glasius; Thomas M. Cronin; Martin Jakobsson; Christof Pearce

doi:10.1038/s43247-023-00720-w

Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic’s last ice area during the Early Holocene

Henrieka Detlef^*, Matt O’Regan, Christian Stranne, Mads Mørk Jensen, Marianne Glasius, Thomas M. Cronin, Martin Jakobsson, Christof Pearce^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

According to climate models, the Lincoln Sea, bordering northern Greenland and Canada, will be the final stronghold of perennial Arctic sea-ice in a warming climate. However, recent observations of prolonged periods of open water raise concerns regarding its long-term stability. Modelling studies suggest a transition from perennial to seasonal sea-ice during the Early Holocene, a period of elevated global temperatures around 10,000 years ago. Here we show marine proxy evidence for the disappearance of perennial sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea during the Early Holocene, which suggests a widespread transition to seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean. Seasonal sea-ice conditions were tightly coupled to regional atmospheric temperatures. In light of anthropogenic warming and Arctic amplification our results suggest an imminent transition to seasonal sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea, even if the global temperature rise is kept below a threshold of 2 °C compared to pre-industrial (1850–1900).

Original language	English
Article number	86
Journal	Communications Earth & Environment
Volume	4
Issue	1
Number of pages	11
ISSN	2662-4435
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00720-w
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

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title = "Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic{\textquoteright}s last ice area during the Early Holocene",

abstract = "According to climate models, the Lincoln Sea, bordering northern Greenland and Canada, will be the final stronghold of perennial Arctic sea-ice in a warming climate. However, recent observations of prolonged periods of open water raise concerns regarding its long-term stability. Modelling studies suggest a transition from perennial to seasonal sea-ice during the Early Holocene, a period of elevated global temperatures around 10,000 years ago. Here we show marine proxy evidence for the disappearance of perennial sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea during the Early Holocene, which suggests a widespread transition to seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean. Seasonal sea-ice conditions were tightly coupled to regional atmospheric temperatures. In light of anthropogenic warming and Arctic amplification our results suggest an imminent transition to seasonal sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea, even if the global temperature rise is kept below a threshold of 2 °C compared to pre-industrial (1850–1900).",

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doi = "10.1038/s43247-023-00720-w",

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T1 - Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic’s last ice area during the Early Holocene

AU - Detlef, Henrieka

AU - O’Regan, Matt

AU - Stranne, Christian

AU - Jensen, Mads Mørk

AU - Glasius, Marianne

AU - Cronin, Thomas M.

AU - Jakobsson, Martin

AU - Pearce, Christof

PY - 2023/3

Y1 - 2023/3

N2 - According to climate models, the Lincoln Sea, bordering northern Greenland and Canada, will be the final stronghold of perennial Arctic sea-ice in a warming climate. However, recent observations of prolonged periods of open water raise concerns regarding its long-term stability. Modelling studies suggest a transition from perennial to seasonal sea-ice during the Early Holocene, a period of elevated global temperatures around 10,000 years ago. Here we show marine proxy evidence for the disappearance of perennial sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea during the Early Holocene, which suggests a widespread transition to seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean. Seasonal sea-ice conditions were tightly coupled to regional atmospheric temperatures. In light of anthropogenic warming and Arctic amplification our results suggest an imminent transition to seasonal sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea, even if the global temperature rise is kept below a threshold of 2 °C compared to pre-industrial (1850–1900).

AB - According to climate models, the Lincoln Sea, bordering northern Greenland and Canada, will be the final stronghold of perennial Arctic sea-ice in a warming climate. However, recent observations of prolonged periods of open water raise concerns regarding its long-term stability. Modelling studies suggest a transition from perennial to seasonal sea-ice during the Early Holocene, a period of elevated global temperatures around 10,000 years ago. Here we show marine proxy evidence for the disappearance of perennial sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea during the Early Holocene, which suggests a widespread transition to seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean. Seasonal sea-ice conditions were tightly coupled to regional atmospheric temperatures. In light of anthropogenic warming and Arctic amplification our results suggest an imminent transition to seasonal sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea, even if the global temperature rise is kept below a threshold of 2 °C compared to pre-industrial (1850–1900).

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Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic’s last ice area during the Early Holocene

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