Investigating the Usage of Transpacific Ice Cores As a Proxy for El Niño-Southern
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Investigating the usage of transpacific ice cores as a proxy for El Niño-Southern Oscillation dynamics THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Katelyn Marie Johnson Graduate Program in Geological Sciences The Ohio State University 2012 Master's Examination Committee: Professor Lonnie G. Thompson, Advisor Professor W. Berry Lyons Professor Jialin Lin Copyright by Katelyn Marie Johnson 2012 Abstract The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a quasi-periodic climate anomaly with atmospheric and oceanic properties. Paleoclimate proxies provide valuable information regarding the dynamics and behavior of the poorly understood ENSO, which is often associated with the failure of the Asian Monsoon. Two data sets examined for ENSO signatures are annually resolved 500-year climate histories extracted in 2003 from the Quelccaya Ice Cap in the southern Andes of Peru and in 1997 from the Dasuopu glacier in the south-central Himalayas. The derived ENSO proxies are based on the insoluble dust content, oxygen isotopic ratios, and major ionic concentrations. While ice cores have been used to study ENSO in the past, our approach differs as we employ two cores located on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean in an effort to better understand the impacts of ENSO as an event progresses through time and space. We also employ meteorological and sea surface temperature data to better understand how ENSO is recorded on Quelccaya Ice Cap. Oxygen isotopic ratios are determined to be the best recorders of ENSO behavior on Quelccaya ice cap, while Dasuopu does not have one, distinct ENSO signal. Future research should focus on creating better, multi-proxy reconstructions to further investigate the ENSO-monsoon relationship. ii Dedication I would like to dedicate this to my family who has given me nothing but unconditional love and support throughout all of these years. To my parents, who always went above and beyond for me, whether it meant waking up at five in the morning to go to a gymnastics meet or moving me three different times in one summer. To my siblings, despite the first ten years of my life, you are my best friends and greatest role models. To my dog Meika, who has provided nothing but happiness these past twelve years. Last, I would like to thank my friends, who were always there to make me laugh on the toughest of days. Clichés aside, without any of you, I would not be where I am today. iii Acknowledgments Finishing this thesis has been an arduous, yet extremely rewarding experience that I could not have done without the help of many. First, I am forever grateful for the guidance, advice, and knowledge of Drs. Lonnie G. Thompson and Ellen Mosley- Thompson throughout this entire process. I would also like to thank the members of the Ice Core Paleoclimatology Research Group for offering suggestions and support on this project; their help has been indispensable. In addition, all of the individuals who worked so very hard to collect, process, and analyze the cores from Quelccaya Ice Cap and Dasuopu glacier. Without the hard work of so many individuals at Byrd Polar Research Center and abroad, this project would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my committee members Drs. W. Berry Lyons and Jialin Lin for their tireless support. I want to express my appreciation to Dr. Steve Naber of the Department of Statistics at The Ohio State University for providing support in the statistical analysis of this project. I would also like to thank, Dr. Doug Hardy of the University of Massachusetts, for providing the meteorological data from Quelccaya Ice Cap, the TAO Project Office of NOAA/PMEL for providing sea surface temperature data for the TAO/PIRATA arrays, and NOAA/NWS/CPC for providing the Niño 1+2, Niño 3, Niño 3.4, and Niño 4 data sets. I would also like to express my sincerest regards to all of my professors, The Ohio State University, and Byrd Polar Research Center for an extremely rewarding last two iv years. Last, I would like to thank the National Science Foundation Paleoclimate Program and The Ohio State University for providing funding; without it, this project could not have been completed. v Vita December 12, 1988 ........................................Born – Thousand Oaks, CA 2007-2010 ......................................................B.S. Meteorology, Texas A&M University 2010- Present .................................................Graduate Research Associate, School of ...................................................Earth Sciences, Byrd Polar Research Center, ...................................................The Ohio State University Field Experience 2010................................................................Lick Creek Park, College Station, Texas 2011................................................................Expedition to the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru ................................................................June 30- July 17, 2011 Presentations “Characteristics and Impacts of the aerosols over Oklahoma determined from airborne measurements during the RACORO campaign,” K. Johnson, C.D. McClure, D.R. Collins, H. Jonsson, R. K. Woods, J. Ogren, and B. Andrews. American Meteorological Society 90th, annual meeting, Atlanta, GA, January16-21, 2010. “Characterizing El Niño-Southern Oscillation signatures in annually resolved ice cores from Quelccaya Ice Cap (Peru) and Dasuopu Ice Cap (Chinese Himalayas) over the last 500 years,” K. Johnson, L.G. Thompson, and E. Mosley-Thompson. Geological Society of America North-Central Section 46th, annual meeting, Dayton, OH, April 23-24, 2012. vi Fields of Study Major Field: Geological Sciences vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. viii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem Statement and Research Questions ............................................................. 1 1.2 Significance of Research ........................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Background ....................................................................................................... 5 2.1 El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ...................................................................... 5 2.1.1 History ................................................................................................................ 5 2.1.2 ENSO Mechanisms and Monsoon Connection ................................................ 11 2.1.3 ENSO Reconstructions ..................................................................................... 14 2.2 Previous Work ......................................................................................................... 17 viii Chapter 3: Study Area, Data, and Methodology ............................................................... 19 3.1 Study Area ............................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1 Quelccaya Ice Cap ............................................................................................ 19 3.1.2 Dasuopu Glacier ............................................................................................... 22 3.2 Data and Methodology ............................................................................................ 24 3.2.1 Ice Cores ........................................................................................................... 24 3.2.2 Weather Station Data ........................................................................................ 28 3.2.3 Lake Level Data ................................................................................................ 28 3.2.4 Buoy Data ......................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 4 Results and Analysis ........................................................................................ 31 4.1 Sea Surface and Weather Station Data .................................................................... 31 4.2 General Ice Core Temporal Analyses ..................................................................... 34 4.2.1. Quelccaya Ice Cap ........................................................................................... 34 4.2.2 Dasuopu Glacier and Quelccaya Ice Cap ......................................................... 41 4.3 ENSO Analysis ......................................................................................................