Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium

Longbin Sha; Hui Jiang; Marit Solveig Seidenkrantz; Raimund Muscheler; Xu Zhang; Mads Faurschou Knudsen; Jesper Olsen; Karen Luise Knudsen; Weiguo Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.002

Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium

Longbin Sha^*, Hui Jiang, Marit Solveig Seidenkrantz, Raimund Muscheler, Xu Zhang, Mads Faurschou Knudsen, Jesper Olsen, Karen Luise Knudsen, Weiguo Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

Arctic sea ice represents an important component of the climate system, and the present reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is of major concern. Despite its importance, little is known about past changes in sea-ice cover and the underlying forcing mechanisms. Here, we use diatom assemblages from a marine sediment core collected from the West Greenland shelf to reconstruct changes in sea-ice cover over the last millennium. The proxy-based reconstruction demonstrates a generally strong link between changes in sea-ice cover and solar variability during the last millennium. Weaker (or stronger) solar forcing may result in the increase (or decrease) in sea-ice cover west of Greenland. In addition, model simulations show that variations in solar activity not only affect local sea-ice formation, but also control the sea-ice transport from the Arctic Ocean through a sea-ice-ocean-atmosphere feedback mechanism. The role of solar forcing, however, appears to have been more ambiguous during an interval around AD 1500, after the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age, likely to be driven by a range of factors.

Original language	English
Journal	Quaternary Science Reviews
Volume	131
Issue	A
Pages (from-to)	148-156
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0277-3791
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.002
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2016

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10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.002

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title = "Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium",

abstract = "Arctic sea ice represents an important component of the climate system, and the present reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is of major concern. Despite its importance, little is known about past changes in sea-ice cover and the underlying forcing mechanisms. Here, we use diatom assemblages from a marine sediment core collected from the West Greenland shelf to reconstruct changes in sea-ice cover over the last millennium. The proxy-based reconstruction demonstrates a generally strong link between changes in sea-ice cover and solar variability during the last millennium. Weaker (or stronger) solar forcing may result in the increase (or decrease) in sea-ice cover west of Greenland. In addition, model simulations show that variations in solar activity not only affect local sea-ice formation, but also control the sea-ice transport from the Arctic Ocean through a sea-ice-ocean-atmosphere feedback mechanism. The role of solar forcing, however, appears to have been more ambiguous during an interval around AD 1500, after the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age, likely to be driven by a range of factors.",

keywords = "Last millennium, Sea-ice variability, Solar activity, West Greenland",

author = "Longbin Sha and Hui Jiang and Seidenkrantz, {Marit Solveig} and Raimund Muscheler and Xu Zhang and Knudsen, {Mads Faurschou} and Jesper Olsen and Knudsen, {Karen Luise} and Weiguo Zhang",

year = "2016",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.002",

language = "English",

volume = "131",

pages = "148--156",

journal = "Quaternary Science Reviews",

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Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium. / Sha, Longbin; Jiang, Hui; Seidenkrantz, Marit Solveig et al.
In: Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 131, No. A, 01.01.2016, p. 148-156.

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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium

AU - Sha, Longbin

AU - Jiang, Hui

AU - Seidenkrantz, Marit Solveig

AU - Muscheler, Raimund

AU - Zhang, Xu

AU - Knudsen, Mads Faurschou

AU - Olsen, Jesper

AU - Knudsen, Karen Luise

AU - Zhang, Weiguo

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - Arctic sea ice represents an important component of the climate system, and the present reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is of major concern. Despite its importance, little is known about past changes in sea-ice cover and the underlying forcing mechanisms. Here, we use diatom assemblages from a marine sediment core collected from the West Greenland shelf to reconstruct changes in sea-ice cover over the last millennium. The proxy-based reconstruction demonstrates a generally strong link between changes in sea-ice cover and solar variability during the last millennium. Weaker (or stronger) solar forcing may result in the increase (or decrease) in sea-ice cover west of Greenland. In addition, model simulations show that variations in solar activity not only affect local sea-ice formation, but also control the sea-ice transport from the Arctic Ocean through a sea-ice-ocean-atmosphere feedback mechanism. The role of solar forcing, however, appears to have been more ambiguous during an interval around AD 1500, after the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age, likely to be driven by a range of factors.

AB - Arctic sea ice represents an important component of the climate system, and the present reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is of major concern. Despite its importance, little is known about past changes in sea-ice cover and the underlying forcing mechanisms. Here, we use diatom assemblages from a marine sediment core collected from the West Greenland shelf to reconstruct changes in sea-ice cover over the last millennium. The proxy-based reconstruction demonstrates a generally strong link between changes in sea-ice cover and solar variability during the last millennium. Weaker (or stronger) solar forcing may result in the increase (or decrease) in sea-ice cover west of Greenland. In addition, model simulations show that variations in solar activity not only affect local sea-ice formation, but also control the sea-ice transport from the Arctic Ocean through a sea-ice-ocean-atmosphere feedback mechanism. The role of solar forcing, however, appears to have been more ambiguous during an interval around AD 1500, after the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age, likely to be driven by a range of factors.

KW - Last millennium

KW - Sea-ice variability

KW - Solar activity

KW - West Greenland

U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.002

DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.002

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84946882144

SN - 0277-3791

VL - 131

SP - 148

EP - 156

JO - Quaternary Science Reviews

JF - Quaternary Science Reviews

IS - A

ER -

Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium

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