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A high-resolution reconstruction of Storglaciären mass balance back to 1780/81 using tree-ring data and circulation indices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hans W. Linderholm ,
Peter Jansson  and
Deliang Chen
Hans W. Linderholm*
Affiliation:
Regional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Göteborg University, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden Laboratory for Climate Studies, National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, 46 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian, Beijing 100081, China
Peter Jansson
Affiliation:
Tarfala Research Station, Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Deliang Chen
Affiliation:
Regional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Göteborg University, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden Laboratory for Climate Studies, National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, 46 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian, Beijing 100081, China
*
⁎Corresponding author. Regional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Göteborg University, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. Fax: +46 31 7731986. E-mail address:hansl@gvc.gu.se (H.W. Linderholm).
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Abstract

Storglaciären in northernmost Sweden has the world's longest ongoing continuous mass-balance record, starting in 1946. To extend this mass-balance record, we have reconstructed summer (b S) and winter (b W) mass balances separately back to the mass balance year 1780/81 with annual resolution. We used tree-ring data for b S and a set of circulation indices, based on the sea-level pressure, for b W. Both proxies have correlation coefficients with respective mass balance components of ca. 0.7. The reconstructed net balance (b N) of Storglaciären was well correlated to the observations during 1946–1980 (r = 0.8, p < 0.05). Our reconstruction agrees well with previously obtained results of northern Sweden glacier variability, where the predominantly positive b N years between 1890 and 1910 correspond to the well documented post-Little Ice Age advance of Storglaciären. Furthermore, the results suggest that b S, as a function of summer temperatures, is more important than b W in determining the b N, which is contrary to glaciers in the maritime parts of western Scandinavia. In general, b N has been negative over the last 220 yr, suggesting a predomination of continental conditions over northern Sweden. However, the influence of b W increased in the late twentieth century, indicating a shift to a more oceanic climate regime.

Keywords

Mass-balance reconstructionTree ringsCirculation indicesStorglaciärenNorthern Sweden

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 12 - 20
Copyright
University of Washington

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