Evaluation of the sea ice proxy IP25 against observational and diatom proxy data in the SW Labrador Sea

Kaarina Weckstrom; Guillaume Masse; Lewis G. Collins; Sami Hanhijarvi; Ioanna Bouloubassi; Marie-Alexandrine Sicre; Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz; Sabine Schmidt; Thorbjorn J. Andersen; Morten L. Andersen; Brian Hill; Antoon Kuijpers

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.012

Evaluation of the sea ice proxy IP25 against observational and diatom proxy data in the SW Labrador Sea

Kaarina Weckstrom, Guillaume Masse, Lewis G. Collins, Sami Hanhijarvi, Ioanna Bouloubassi, Marie-Alexandrine Sicre, Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz, Sabine Schmidt, Thorbjorn J. Andersen, Morten L. Andersen, Brian Hill, Antoon Kuijpers

Geography

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The recent rapid decline in Arctic sea ice cover has increased the need to improve the accuracy of the sea ice component in climate models and to provide detailed long-term sea ice concentration records, which are only available via proxy data. Recently, the highly branched isoprenoid IP₂₅, identified in marine sediments underlying seasonal sea ice, has emerged as a potential sea ice specific proxy for past sea ice cover. We tested the reliability of this biomarker as a sea ice proxy against observational sea ice data (sea ice concentrations from the global HadISST1 database) and against a more established sea ice proxy (sea ice diatom abundance in sediments) in the South-West (SW) Labrador Sea. Furthermore, our study location at the southern margin of Arctic sea ice drift provided a new environmental setting in which to further test the novel PIP₂₅ index. Our two study sites are located North-East (NE) and South-East (SE) of Newfoundland where box cores covering the last ca 100-150 years were collected. IP₂₅ concentrations are nearly an order of magnitude higher and sea ice diatoms more abundant in sediments from NE of Newfoundland, where sea ice prevails 2-4 months per year compared to the sediments SE of Newfoundland, where conditions are generally ice-free year round. The IP₂₅ fluxes NE of Newfoundland agree well with multi-decadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) trends in the study area, which in previous studies have been shown to affect the climatic and sea ice conditions in the region. When assessed against observational sea ice data, IP₂₅ appears to be a more sensitive indicator of sea ice variability in this setting compared to sea ice diatoms and proved to be a robust and reliable proxy for reconstructing low-frequency variability in past sea ice concentrations. The PIP₂₅ index results clearly differ from the observed sea ice data underlining that caution needs to be exercised when using the index in different environmental settings.

Original language	English
Journal	Quaternary Science Reviews
Volume	79
Issue number	SI
Pages (from-to)	53-62
Number of pages	10
ISSN	0277-3791
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.012
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2013

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Weckstrom, K., Masse, G., Collins, L. G., Hanhijarvi, S., Bouloubassi, I., Sicre, M-A., Seidenkrantz, M-S., Schmidt, S., Andersen, T. J., Andersen, M. L., Hill, B., & Kuijpers, A. (2013). Evaluation of the sea ice proxy IP25 against observational and diatom proxy data in the SW Labrador Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews, 79(SI), 53-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.012

Weckstrom, K, Masse, G, Collins, LG, Hanhijarvi, S, Bouloubassi, I, Sicre, M-A, Seidenkrantz, M-S, Schmidt, S, Andersen, TJ, Andersen, ML, Hill, B & Kuijpers, A 2013, 'Evaluation of the sea ice proxy IP25 against observational and diatom proxy data in the SW Labrador Sea', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 79, no. SI, pp. 53-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.012

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abstract = "The recent rapid decline in Arctic sea ice cover has increased the need to improve the accuracy of the sea ice component in climate models and to provide detailed long-term sea ice concentration records, which are only available via proxy data. Recently, the highly branched isoprenoid IP25, identified in marine sediments underlying seasonal sea ice, has emerged as a potential sea ice specific proxy for past sea ice cover. We tested the reliability of this biomarker as a sea ice proxy against observational sea ice data (sea ice concentrations from the global HadISST1 database) and against a more established sea ice proxy (sea ice diatom abundance in sediments) in the South-West (SW) Labrador Sea. Furthermore, our study location at the southern margin of Arctic sea ice drift provided a new environmental setting in which to further test the novel PIP25 index. Our two study sites are located North-East (NE) and South-East (SE) of Newfoundland where box cores covering the last ca 100-150 years were collected. IP25 concentrations are nearly an order of magnitude higher and sea ice diatoms more abundant in sediments from NE of Newfoundland, where sea ice prevails 2-4 months per year compared to the sediments SE of Newfoundland, where conditions are generally ice-free year round. The IP25 fluxes NE of Newfoundland agree well with multi-decadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) trends in the study area, which in previous studies have been shown to affect the climatic and sea ice conditions in the region. When assessed against observational sea ice data, IP25 appears to be a more sensitive indicator of sea ice variability in this setting compared to sea ice diatoms and proved to be a robust and reliable proxy for reconstructing low-frequency variability in past sea ice concentrations. The PIP25 index results clearly differ from the observed sea ice data underlining that caution needs to be exercised when using the index in different environmental settings.",

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T1 - Evaluation of the sea ice proxy IP25 against observational and diatom proxy data in the SW Labrador Sea

AU - Weckstrom, Kaarina

AU - Masse, Guillaume

AU - Collins, Lewis G.

AU - Hanhijarvi, Sami

AU - Bouloubassi, Ioanna

AU - Sicre, Marie-Alexandrine

AU - Seidenkrantz, Marit-Solveig

AU - Schmidt, Sabine

AU - Andersen, Thorbjorn J.

AU - Andersen, Morten L.

AU - Hill, Brian

AU - Kuijpers, Antoon

PY - 2013/11/1

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N2 - The recent rapid decline in Arctic sea ice cover has increased the need to improve the accuracy of the sea ice component in climate models and to provide detailed long-term sea ice concentration records, which are only available via proxy data. Recently, the highly branched isoprenoid IP25, identified in marine sediments underlying seasonal sea ice, has emerged as a potential sea ice specific proxy for past sea ice cover. We tested the reliability of this biomarker as a sea ice proxy against observational sea ice data (sea ice concentrations from the global HadISST1 database) and against a more established sea ice proxy (sea ice diatom abundance in sediments) in the South-West (SW) Labrador Sea. Furthermore, our study location at the southern margin of Arctic sea ice drift provided a new environmental setting in which to further test the novel PIP25 index. Our two study sites are located North-East (NE) and South-East (SE) of Newfoundland where box cores covering the last ca 100-150 years were collected. IP25 concentrations are nearly an order of magnitude higher and sea ice diatoms more abundant in sediments from NE of Newfoundland, where sea ice prevails 2-4 months per year compared to the sediments SE of Newfoundland, where conditions are generally ice-free year round. The IP25 fluxes NE of Newfoundland agree well with multi-decadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) trends in the study area, which in previous studies have been shown to affect the climatic and sea ice conditions in the region. When assessed against observational sea ice data, IP25 appears to be a more sensitive indicator of sea ice variability in this setting compared to sea ice diatoms and proved to be a robust and reliable proxy for reconstructing low-frequency variability in past sea ice concentrations. The PIP25 index results clearly differ from the observed sea ice data underlining that caution needs to be exercised when using the index in different environmental settings.

AB - The recent rapid decline in Arctic sea ice cover has increased the need to improve the accuracy of the sea ice component in climate models and to provide detailed long-term sea ice concentration records, which are only available via proxy data. Recently, the highly branched isoprenoid IP25, identified in marine sediments underlying seasonal sea ice, has emerged as a potential sea ice specific proxy for past sea ice cover. We tested the reliability of this biomarker as a sea ice proxy against observational sea ice data (sea ice concentrations from the global HadISST1 database) and against a more established sea ice proxy (sea ice diatom abundance in sediments) in the South-West (SW) Labrador Sea. Furthermore, our study location at the southern margin of Arctic sea ice drift provided a new environmental setting in which to further test the novel PIP25 index. Our two study sites are located North-East (NE) and South-East (SE) of Newfoundland where box cores covering the last ca 100-150 years were collected. IP25 concentrations are nearly an order of magnitude higher and sea ice diatoms more abundant in sediments from NE of Newfoundland, where sea ice prevails 2-4 months per year compared to the sediments SE of Newfoundland, where conditions are generally ice-free year round. The IP25 fluxes NE of Newfoundland agree well with multi-decadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) trends in the study area, which in previous studies have been shown to affect the climatic and sea ice conditions in the region. When assessed against observational sea ice data, IP25 appears to be a more sensitive indicator of sea ice variability in this setting compared to sea ice diatoms and proved to be a robust and reliable proxy for reconstructing low-frequency variability in past sea ice concentrations. The PIP25 index results clearly differ from the observed sea ice data underlining that caution needs to be exercised when using the index in different environmental settings.

KW - IP25

KW - Diatoms

KW - PIP25

KW - Sea ice

KW - NAO

KW - Labrador Sea

U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.012

DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.012

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0277-3791

VL - 79

SP - 53

EP - 62

JO - Quaternary Science Reviews

JF - Quaternary Science Reviews

IS - SI

ER -

Evaluation of the sea ice proxy IP25 against observational and diatom proxy data in the SW Labrador Sea

Abstract

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