Cold air incursions, <i>δ</i>¹⁸O variability, and monsoon dynamics associated with snow days at Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru

Abstract

Abstract Quelccaya Ice Cap in the Andes of Peru contains an annually resolved δ 18 O record covering the past 1800 years; yet atmospheric dynamics associated with snow deposition and δ 18 O variability at this site are poorly understood. Here we make use of 10 years of snow pit and short core δ 18 O data and hourly snow‐height measurements obtained by an automated weather station deployed at the ice cap's summit to analyze linkages between snowfall, δ 18 O, and the South American summer monsoon (SASM). Snow accumulation peaks in December and is negative May–September. Snow δ 18 O values decrease gradually through austral summer from about −17 to −24‰. Surface snow δ 18 O is altered after deposition during austral winter from about −24 to −15‰. More than 70% of the total snow accumulation is tied to convection along the leading edge of cold air incursions of midlatitude air advected equatorward from southern South America. Snowfall amplitude at Quelccaya Ice Cap varies systematically with regional precipitation, atmospheric dynamics, midtroposphere humidity, and water vapor δ D. Strongest snowfall gains correspond with positive precipitation anomalies over the western Amazon Basin, increased humidity, and lowered water vapor δ D values, consistent with the “amount effect.” We discuss ventilation of the monsoon, modulated by midlatitude cold air advection, as potentially diagnostic of the relationship between SASM dynamics and Quelccaya snowfall. Results will serve as a basis for development of a comprehensive isotopic forward model to reconstruct past monsoon dynamics using the ice core δ 18 O record.