Antarctic Sea Surface Temperature Record
Researchers use sediments to produce the first sea surface temperature record
The data show that long-term cooling of 3 to 4 degrees Celsius occurred in waters near the tip of the peninsula and was related to changes in local insolation, but short-term variability was strongly influenced by westerly winds.
Shevenell (past PCC postdoc), Ingalls (UW Ocean), Domack (Hamilton College) and Kelly (former UW undergraduate) use sediments to produce the first sea surface temperature record at the sea edge of the Antarctic continent over the past 12,000 years.
The record shows a long term cooling of 3-4 degrees Celsius over this time period. This long term cooling related to local insolation is interrupted by short term variability that is influenced by the strength of the westerly winds. In the most recent part of the record, sea surface temperatures show a warming trend that matches the rate of change observed in the Antarctic Peninsula of -3.4 degrees Celsius per century.
The results are published in Nature (v.470, 250-254 (2011)), the methods and broader impacts discussed in a News and View article by James Bendle in the same volume, and highlighted in the news media.
