GRIP Deuterium Excess Reveals Rapid and Orbital-Scale Changes in Greenland Moisture Origin

Science, Vol 309, p. 118-121, 2005

V. Masson-Delmotte, J. Jouzel, A. Landais and M. Stievenard
IPSL/Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), UMR CEA-CNRS, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
S.J. Johnsen
Ice and Climate, The Niels Bohr Institute, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
J.W.C. White
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research Institute and Department of Geological Sciences, Campus Box 450, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
M. Werner
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Postbox 10 01 64, D-07701 Jena, Germany.
A. Sveinbjörnsdottir
Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhaga 3, Reykjavik 107, Iceland.
K. Fuhrer
Physics Institute, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

ABSTRACT.
The Northern Hemisphere hydrological cycle is a key factor coupling ice sheets, ocean circulation, and polar amplification of climate change. Here we present a Northern Hemisphere deuterium excess profile covering one climatic cycle, constructed with the use of δ¹⁸O and δD Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) records. Past changes in Greenland source and site temperatures are quantified with precipitation seasonality taken into account. The imprintof obliquity is evidenced in the site-to-source temperature gradient at orbital scale. At the millennial time scale, GRIP source temperature changes reflect southward shifts of the geographical locations of moisture sources during cold events, and these rapid shifts are associated with large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation.