‘Little Ice Age’ proxy glacier mass balance records                 reconstructed from tree rings in the Mt Waddington area, British Columbia Coast                 Mountains, Canada

Larocque, Sonya J.; Smith, Dan J.

doi:10.1191/0959683605hl848rp

Cited by 55 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Comparisons between the two climatic proxies, mass-balance series and tree-ring chronologies, have led to successful massbalance reconstructions in Europe and North America (Nicolussi and Patzelt, 1996;Lewis and Smith, 2004;Larocque and Smith, 2005;Watson and Luckman, 2004). Upon close examination of our dendrochronological data for the central European Alps, however, we found stronger correlations for the larger Hintereis Glacier series, whereas relationships to smaller glaciers closer to the dendroclimatic network were generally weaker.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Based on a regression model, past mass-balance estimates for the Hintereis Glacier cover about five centuries (Nicolussi and Patzelt, 1996). In the Western Cordillera and the Rocky Mountains, treering based reconstructions have been performed to estimate the past mass balance of four glaciers in a region extending over ,300 km (Lewis and Smith, 2004), as well as the summer and winter balances of several glaciers (Larocque and Smith, 2005) and of the Peyto Glacier (Watson and Luckman, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non-stationary Responses of Tree-Ring Chronologies and Glacier Mass Balance to Climate in the European Alps

Leonelli

Pelfini

D’Arrigo

et al. 2011

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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Tree-ring width and glacier mass balance are two highly sensitive climatic proxies which are often used as indicators of biological and geophysical changes in high-altitude ecosystems. Tree-ring data have been widely used to reconstruct past temperatures and also to reconstruct past glacier mass balance. Here we show that tree-ring chronologies from a high-altitude Pinus cembra L. dendroclimatic network and glaciers from the same region in the European Alps have non-stationary responses to air temperature, and have also been responding non-proportionally to temperature extremes in recent decades. Both ring-width chronologies and the mass-balance series of some glaciers from the same region have shown an increasing sensitivity to summer (JJA) temperatures. Our results demonstrate that the sensitivity to climate of tree-ring chronologies and glacier mass balance may change over time and has been increasing in recent decades, posing some limitations to tree-ring-based glacier mass-balance reconstruction. Moreover, we found these reconstructions in the European Alps are more reliable for large rather than for small glaciers, and may not be able to reveal years of extreme ablation that could have occurred in the past. AbstractTree-ring width and glacier mass balance are two highly sensitive climatic proxies which are often used as indicators of biological and geophysical changes in highaltitude ecosystems. Tree-ring data have been widely used to reconstruct past temperatures and also to reconstruct past glacier mass balance. Here we show that tree-ring chronologies from a high-altitude Pinus cembra L. dendroclimatic network and glaciers from the same region in the European Alps have non-stationary responses to air temperature, and have also been responding non-proportionally to temperature extremes in recent decades. Both ring-width chronologies and the mass-balance series of some glaciers from the same region have shown an increasing sensitivity to summer (JJA) temperatures. Our results demonstrate that the sensitivity to climate of tree-ring chronologies and glacier mass balance may change over time and has been increasing in recent decades, posing some limitations to tree-ring-based glacier mass-balance reconstruction. Moreover, we found these reconstructions in the European Alps are more reliable for large rather than for small glaciers, and may not be able to reveal years of extreme ablation that could have occurred in the past.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-stationary Responses of Tree-Ring Chronologies and Glacier Mass Balance to Climate in the European Alps

Leonelli

Pelfini

D’Arrigo

et al. 2011

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Values of the subsample signal strength (SSS) provide a useful statistical tool for determining the sample size needed to capture the theoretical population signal of tree-ring variation (Larocque and Smith 2005). We used SSS values above 0.80 to identify a cut-off year in the chronologies, above which there was sufficient sample robustness to reconstruct a reliable time series (Wigley et al 1984).…”

Section: Dendrochronological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an alternative, tree growth patterns have been used to reconstruct glacier behavior and mass balance, with encouraging results (Watson and Luckman 2004;Larocque and Smith 2005). Because precipitation and temperature directly influence tree growth, glacier mass balance, and ELA, synchronous responses in these parameters are expected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because precipitation and temperature directly influence tree growth, glacier mass balance, and ELA, synchronous responses in these parameters are expected. Thus, tree-ring records can be used to construct robust proxy records of glacier mass balance and ELA (Larocque and Smith 2005). Where trees are not available for sampling, shrubs may provide a viable alternative.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dendroclimatological Investigations of Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) and Reconstruction of the Equilibrium Line Altitude of the July First Glacier in the Western Qilian Mountains, Northwestern China

Xiao¹,

Hu²,

Kobayashi³

et al. 2007

Tree-Ring Research

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Radial growth characteristics of a high-elevation shrub species, sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), were investigated at four sites in a river valley at altitudes ranging from 3,333 to 3,820 m a.s.l. close to the terminus of the July First Glacier in the western Qilian Mountains of northwestern China. Radial growth of the sea buckthorn was significantly and positively correlated with the mean monthly temperature in June of the current growing season. Based on the fact that fluctuations in the shrub's radial growth and the glacier's equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) are affected by climatic variables, a tree-ring width chronology of the four sites was used to reconstruct the ELA from 1950 to 2003. The resulting ELA model explained more than 55.3% of the variance in the ELA of the July First Glacier series. On a decadal time scale, the cumulative-departure curve of the reconstructed ELA series showed an increasing trend from the 1950s to the mid-1960s, followed by a descending trend from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. The ELA appears to have remained stable from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, but has displayed dramatic variations during the past decade.

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Identifying spatial variations in glacial catchment erosion with detrital thermochronology

Ehlers

Szameitat

Enkelmann

et al. 2015

J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf.

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Understanding the spatial distribution of glacial catchment erosion during glaciation has previously proven difficult due to limited access to the glacier bed. Recent advances in detrital thermochronology provide a new technique to quantify the source elevation of sediment. This approach utilizes the tendency of thermochronometer cooling ages to increase with elevation and provides a sediment tracer for the elevation of erosion. We apply this technique to the Tiedeman Glacier in the heavily glaciated Mount Waddington region, British Columbia. A total of 106 detrital apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and 100 apatite fission track (AFT) single-grain ages was presented from the modern outwash of the Tiedemann Glacier with catchment elevations between 530 and 3960 m. These data are combined with nine AHe and nine AFT bedrock ages collected from ã 2400 m vertical transect to test the hypotheses that erosion is uniformly or nonuniformly distributed in the catchment. A Monte Carlo sampling model and Kuiper statistical test are used to quantify the elevation range where outwash sediment is sourced. Model results from the AHe data suggest nearly uniform erosion in the catchment, with a preference for sediment being sourced from~2900 to 2700 m elevation. Ages indicated that the largest source of sediment is near the present-day ELA. These results demonstrate the utility of AHe detrital thermochronology (and to a lesser degree AFT data) to quantify the distribution of erosion by individual geomorphic processes, as well as some of the limitations of the technique.

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‘Little Ice Age’ proxy glacier mass balance records reconstructed from tree rings in the Mt Waddington area, British Columbia Coast Mountains, Canada

Cited by 55 publications

References 42 publications

Non-stationary Responses of Tree-Ring Chronologies and Glacier Mass Balance to Climate in the European Alps

Non-stationary Responses of Tree-Ring Chronologies and Glacier Mass Balance to Climate in the European Alps

Dendroclimatological Investigations of Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) and Reconstruction of the Equilibrium Line Altitude of the July First Glacier in the Western Qilian Mountains, Northwestern China

Identifying spatial variations in glacial catchment erosion with detrital thermochronology

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