A 1400-year high-resolution record of atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic and Asia

Abstract

Major ion series developed from new subannual scale sampling of an ice core from central Greenland are calibrated with instrumental series of atmospheric sea-level pressure recording major marine (Icelandic Low) and terrestrial (Siberian High) atmospheric circulation systems to provide proxy records of atmospheric circulation over the past 1400 years. Examination of the proxy records reveals: major changes in behaviour of these systems c. ad 1400, multidecadal- and centennial-scale periodic components, characterization of mean sea-level pressure anomaly fields during the ‘Little Ice Age’ and the ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’, the potential role of solar forcing, coupled ocean-atmosphere associations, and a perspective within which the characteristics of instrumental-era climate can be assessed.