Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation in Northern Greenland Dust Concentration Variability During the Last 400 Years
Statistical analysis of reanalysis and observed data reveals that high dust surface mass concentration in northern Greenland is associated with a Pacific Decadal Oscillation like pattern in its negative phase in the North Pacific as well as with La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific region. The sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacific realm resemble the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). The associated atmospheric circulation pattern, in the form of a wave-train from the North Pacific to the Eurasian continent, favors enhanced dust uptake and transport toward the northern Greenland. Similar patterns are associated with a low-resolution stacked record of five Ca2+ ice cores, that is, ngt03C93.2 (B16), ngt14C93.2 (B18), ngt27C94.2 (B21), GISP2−B, and NEEM-2011-S1, from northern Greenland, a proxy for regional dust concentration, during the last 400 years. We argue that northern Greenland ice core dust records could be used as proxies for the IPO and related teleconnections.