Variability in Summer Anticyclonic Activity over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and west Greenland in the late 20th/early 21st centuries, and its impact on the firn stratigraphy of the Devon Ice Cap
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Abstract
Significant summer warming over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) is linked to a doubling in the frequency of anticyclonic circulation over the region since 2007. The frequency of positive anomalies in summer 500 hPa geopotential height is related to Arctic sea ice volume/thickness in April, May and June (1979-2012) and to poleward eddy heat flux in June. More frequent summer anticyclonic circulation over the CAA has caused more intense and sustained melt of ice caps and glaciers, and increased rates of mass loss. Based on 54 shallow cores recovered from elevations of 1400-1900 m a.s.l. on the Devon Ice Cap between 2004 and 2012, firn layer thinning due to more rapid densification in a warmer climate can explain much of the reduction in ice cap surface height measured by repeat airborne laser altimetry between 2004 and 2012 (-0.077 to -0.252 m a-1).