NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - GISP2 and WAIS Divide Ice Cores 60,000 Year Surface Temperature Reconstructions

Ice cores provide detailed records of past climate change. Water stable isotopes are the most commonly used ice core climate proxy, but their quantitative interpretation remains challenging. Here I argue that the gas age-ice age difference (Dage) is a powerful proxy for past surface temperature. An analytical framework is derived that directly links past temperature to firn properties that can be reliably reconstructed (Dage, lock-in depth). The framework is calibrated using both present-day spatial patterns and last glacial maximum temperatures reconstructed via borehole thermometry. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated using three case studies from Greenland and Antarctic ice cores. The calibration suggests that several firn densification models, with the possible exception of the Herron-Langway model, have insufficient sensitivity to accumulation rates. This low sensitivity, in combination with large amplitude temperature forcing, can explain historical difficulties of densification models in simulating ice age firn thickness in East Antarctica.