NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Northern Rockies 2,200 Year Snow Water Equivalent Reconstructions
Dates
Publication Date
2020-09-01
Citation
Schoenemann, S. W., Martin, J. T., Pederson, G. T., McWethy, D. B. 2020. NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Northern Rockies 2,200 Year Snow Water Equivalent Reconstructions. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/87st-gd45
Summary
In recent decades, Rocky Mountain accumulated snowpack levels have experienced rapid declines, yet long-term records of snowpack prior to the installation of snowpack observation stations in the early and mid 20th century are limited. To date, a small number of tree-ring based reconstructions of April 1 Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in the northern Rocky Mountains have extended modern records of snowpack variability to ~1200 C.E. Carbonate isotope lake sediment records, provide an opportunity to further extend tree-ring based reconstructions through the Holocene, providing a millennial-scale temporal record that allows for an evaluation of multi-scale drivers of snowpack variability, from internal climate dynamics to orbital-scale forcings. [...]
Summary
In recent decades, Rocky Mountain accumulated snowpack levels have experienced rapid declines, yet long-term records of snowpack prior to the installation of snowpack observation stations in the early and mid 20th century are limited. To date, a small number of tree-ring based reconstructions of April 1 Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in the northern Rocky Mountains have extended modern records of snowpack variability to ~1200 C.E. Carbonate isotope lake sediment records, provide an opportunity to further extend tree-ring based reconstructions through the Holocene, providing a millennial-scale temporal record that allows for an evaluation of multi-scale drivers of snowpack variability, from internal climate dynamics to orbital-scale forcings. Here we present a ~2200 year preliminary reconstruction of northern Rockies snowpack based on d18O measurements of sediment carbonates collected from Foy Lake, Montana. We explore the statistical calibration of lake sediment d18O to an annually resolved snowpack reconstruction from tree rings, and develop an approach to assess and quantify potential sources of error in this reconstruction approach. The sediment-based snowpack reconstruction shows strong low-frequency variability in snowpack over the last two millennia with few snow droughts approaching the magnitude of recent snowpack declines. Given the growing availability of high-resolution, carbonate-rich lake sediment records, such reconstructions could help improve our understanding of how snowpack conditions varied under previous climatic events (mid-Holocene climate optimum ca. 9-6 ka), providing critical insights for anticipating future snowpack conditions.
Records of past temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables derived from paleoclimate proxies. Parameter keywords describe what was measured in this data set. Additional summary information can be found in the abstracts of papers listed in the data set citations.