Warming events and their impacts during the past 150,000 years viewed from Greenland ice

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22221002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Environmental dynamic analysis
• Research Institution: National Institute of Polar Research
• Principal Investigator: Azuma Kumiko 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 教授 (80202620)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KAWAMURA Kenji 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 准教授 (90431478) ; FUJITA Shuji 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 准教授 (30250476) ; UETAKE Jun 情報・システム研究機構, 新領域融合研究センター, 融合プロジェクト特任研究員 (40455473)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MOTOYAMA Hideaki 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 教授 (20210099) ; HIRABAYASHI Motohiro 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 特任助手 (20399356) ; KOBASHI Takuro 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 特任助教 (00527129) ; TAKAMURA Chikako 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 特任研究員 (00584666) ; KURAMOTO Takayuki 国立極地研究所, 研究教育系, 特任研究員 (30511513) ; SEGAWA Takahiro 情報・システム研究機構, 新領域融合研究センター, 特任助教 (90425835) ; AOKI Shuji 東北大学, 理学研究科, 教授 (00183129) ; AZUMA Nobuhiko 長岡技術科学大学, 工学部, 教授 (70182996) ; IIZUKA Yoshinori 北海道大学, 低温科学研究所, 助教 (40370043)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: グリーンランド / 氷床コア / 温暖化 / 最終間氷期 / 環境変動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We analyzed the ice core drilled under the international project North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling. The air temperature during the warmest period of Eemian interglacial was warmer than the present by 8℃±４℃, which caused extensive surface melt in north Greenland. The thickness of the northwest Greenland ice sheet decreased by 400±250ｍ during 6000 years, which was much smaller than that had been expected. Mass loss of Antarctic ice sheet should have played a role in sea-level rise during the Eemian. Variations of methane, nitrous oxide, noble gases in the air extracted from the ice core, and those of ionic species and bacterial cell concentrations in ice provided us with valuable information on changes in atmospheric circulation, vegetation, microbial activities, mean ocean temperature etc during the warm periods and abrupt warming events.

Free Research Field

雪氷学、古気候学