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  4. Fingerprints of Frontal Passages and Post-Depositional Effects in the Stable Water Isotope Signal of Seasonal Alpine Snow
 
research article

Fingerprints of Frontal Passages and Post-Depositional Effects in the Stable Water Isotope Signal of Seasonal Alpine Snow

Aemisegger, F.
•
Trachsel, J.
•
Sadowski, Y.  
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November 27, 2022
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

Stable water isotopes are used as a paleothermometer in ice cores for climate reconstructions over the past millennia. The underlying physical processes involved in the isotope-temperature relation, however, unfold at much shorter timescales. Here, we study the temporary archival of frontal passages in the seasonal Alpine snow cover. We combine five snow profiles sampled in winter 2017 at the Weissfluhjoch with a quantitative snow layer age reconstruction and atmospheric reanalysis data to characterize the circulation and clouds associated with the precipitation producing synoptic-scale cold and warm fronts. We find that the vertical cloud structure and the air parcels' net cooling during transport leave a distinct imprint in the delta O-18 and delta D vertical profile in the snow. The near-surface humidity gradient at the moisture source is reflected in the second order isotope parameter deuterium excess. In the cold season, these environmental conditions during cloud formation and at the moisture source are preserved in the snow. In the melt season, significant post-depositional effects due to wet snow metamorphism, however, leads to an enrichment in heavy isotopes in the snow and a strong smoothing of the initial atmospheric imprint. These findings show that the isotope signal archived in the dry snow cover is strongly modulated by individual weather systems prior to deposition. Major shifts in the upper-level jet stream and cyclone tracks likely leading to changes in moisture source regions and conditions, could therefore be detectable in the isotope composition of Alpine ice.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1029/2022JD037469
Web of Science ID

WOS:000888569300001

Author(s)
Aemisegger, F.
Trachsel, J.
Sadowski, Y.  
Eichler, A.
Lehning, M.  
Avak, S.
Schneebeli, M.
Date Issued

2022-11-27

Publisher

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION

Published in
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Volume

127

Issue

22

Article Number

e2022JD037469

Subjects

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

•

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

•

atmospheric water cycle

•

midlatitude meteorology

•

alpine snow

•

stable water isotopes

•

fronts

•

clouds

•

deuterium excess

•

ice core

•

precipitation signal

•

temperature-gradient

•

greenland

•

model

•

climate

•

surface

•

depth

•

flow

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CRYOS  
Available on Infoscience
December 19, 2022
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/193377
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