Large-scale atmospheric circulation systems affect the geographic distribution of precipitation in western North America, yet little is known about how these systems may have varied before the instrumental period of the last 150 years. The main goal of this project is to reconstruct the history of precipitation in Alaska during the last thousand years using ice core records of snow accumulation. The researchers plan to collect several new ice cores from the Mt. Hunter Plateau in the Alaska Range of Denali National Park and the new ice cores will be combined with an existing spatial array of ice cores in the region to map changes in the spatial patterns of precipitation. Because changes in atmospheric circulation patterns caused by ENSO and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) affect where the precipitation falls, this spatial array of ice cores will provide a record of how these larger scale climate systems have varied during the last thousand years. The project will focus on determining the differences in the precipitation patterns at the Little Ice Age (approximately 200 to 600 years ago) and Medieval Climate Anomaly (approximately 800 to 1,200 years ago).
This project will evaluate how changes in the climate state affect atmospheric circulation and precipitation. In addition the project includes K-12, undergraduate and graduate education activities, and, in conjunction with the National Park Service, the development of an interactive display showing the climate history of the region and the history of glacier advance and retreat in Denali National Park.
