Thursday, June 29, 2006, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium
M. Schwikowski, PSI
Abstract:
The Central Eurasian Altai mountain range, a remote area located on the
border of the four countries Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and Mongolia, is
of particular interest for climate research due to the extreme
continentality and the location on the boundary between Siberian forests
and desert regions in Central Asia. For the reconstruction of climate
variability and air pollution levels in this region a 140 m long ice
core was retrieved from Belukha glacier (49^o 48'26.3''N, 86^o
44'42.8''E, 4062 m a.s.l.). The Belukha ice core has been analysed for a
set of parameters, namely \delta^{18}O, concentrations of major ions,
trace elements, especially mercury, lead, and plutonium, as well as
organic and elemental carbon. Two temperature proxies indicate a strong
warming trend in the order of 1.6 +- 0.4^o C and 1.7 +- 1.1^o C over the
last century. This reflects an amplified regional climate response as
compared to the Northern Hemisphere average. Most of the chemical
species show a strong influence of anthropogenic emissions in the second
half of the 20th century.