Activities of beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 dissolved in 200-year-old Greenland ice were found to be 18.4 (+ 8.4, - 4.8) x 10(-6) and 3.2 +/- 0.9 x 10(-7) disintegration per minute per liter, respectively. From these values and the precipitation rate (30 milliliters of water per square centimeter per year), the production rates of these isotopes are calculated to be 3.6 (+ 1.6, - 0.9) x 10(-2) and 1.7 +/- 0.5 x 10(-4) atom per second * square centimeter. These rates agree with the rates calculated for the production of these isotopes by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. Probably all the Al(26) in the ice is accounted for by such atmospheric production; however, an upper limit for the influx of cosmic dust bearing aluminum-26 is calculated at 3.2 x 10(5) tons per year for Earth. Only upper limits could be found for Al(26) and Be(10) in the undissolved particulate matter in the ice; their addition to the activities in the dissolved material leaves our conclusions unchanged.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.158.3809.1690 | DOI Listing |
Glob Chang Biol
January 2025
Department of Surface Waters-Research and Management, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland.
The primary production of fjords across the Arctic and Subarctic is undergoing significant transformations due to the climatically driven retreat of glaciers and ice sheets. However, the implications of these changes for upper trophic levels remain largely unknown. In this study, we employ both bulk and compound-specific stable isotope analyses to investigate how shifts at the base of fjord food webs impact the carbon and energy sources of consumers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommun Earth Environ
January 2025
Recherche en Prévision Numérique Environnementale/Environnement et Changement Climatique Canada, Dorval, QC Canada.
The Last Ice Area-located to the north of Greenland and the northern Canadian Arctic Archipelago-is expected to persist as the central Arctic Ocean becomes seasonally ice-free within a few decades. Projections of the Last Ice Area, however, have come from relatively low resolution Global Climate Models that do not resolve sea ice export through the waterways of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Nares Strait. Here we revisit Last Ice Area projections using high-resolution numerical simulations from the Community Earth System Model, which resolves these narrow waterways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
January 2025
Department of Climate and Environmental Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
To assess the impact of ongoing, historically unprecedented Arctic ice melting, precisely synchronized chronologies are indispensable for past analogs of abrupt climate change. Around 12,900 years before present (B.P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Iceberg calving is a major contributor to Greenland's ice mass loss. Ice mélange, tightly packed sea ice and icebergs, has been hypothesized to buttress the calving fronts. However, quantifying the mélange buttressing force from field observations remains a challenge.
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