Kipfstuhl Sepp

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Kipfstuhl
First Name
Sepp
ORCID
0000-0003-1495-5273

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  • Article
    Holocene black carbon in Antarctica paralleled Southern Hemisphere climate
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2017-07-01) Arienzo, Monica ; McConnell, Joseph R. ; Murphy, Lisa N. ; Chellman, Nathan ; Das, Sarah B. ; Kipfstuhl, Sepp ; Mulvaney, Robert
    Black carbon (BC) and other biomass-burning (BB) aerosols are critical components of climate forcing, but quantification, predictive climate modeling, and policy decisions have been hampered by limited understanding of the climate drivers of BB and by the lack of long-term records. Prior modeling studies suggested that increased Northern Hemisphere anthropogenic BC emissions increased recent temperatures and regional precipitation, including a northward shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Two Antarctic ice cores were analyzed for BC, and the longest record shows that the highest BC deposition during the Holocene occurred ~8–6 k years before present in a period of relatively high austral burning season and low growing season insolation. Atmospheric transport modeling suggests South America (SA) as the dominant source of modern Antarctic BC and, consistent with the ice core record, climate model experiments using mid-Holocene and preindustrial insolation simulate comparable increases in carbon loss due to fires in SA during the mid-Holocene. SA climate proxies document a northward shifted ITCZ and weakened SA Summer Monsoon (SASM) during this period, with associated impacts on hydroclimate and burning. A second Antarctic ice core spanning the last 2.5 k years documents similar linkages between hydroclimate and BC, with the lowest deposition during the Little Ice Age characterized by a southerly shifted ITCZ and strengthened SASM. These new results indicate that insolation-driven changes in SA hydroclimate and BB, likely linked to the position of the ITCZ, modulated Antarctic BC deposition during most of the Holocene and suggests connections and feedbacks between future BC emissions and hydroclimate.
  • Article
    Antarctic-wide array of high-resolution ice core records reveals pervasive lead pollution began in 1889 and persists today
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2014-07-28) McConnell, Joseph R. ; Maselli, Olivia J. ; Sigl, Michael ; Vallelonga, P. ; Neumann, T. ; Anschutz, H. ; Bales, R. C. ; Curran, M. A. J. ; Das, Sarah B. ; Edwards, R. ; Kipfstuhl, Sepp ; Layman, Lawrence ; Thomas, E. R.
    Interior Antarctica is among the most remote places on Earth and was thought to be beyond the reach of human impacts when Amundsen and Scott raced to the South Pole in 1911. Here we show detailed measurements from an extensive array of 16 ice cores quantifying substantial toxic heavy metal lead pollution at South Pole and throughout Antarctica by 1889 – beating polar explorers by more than 22 years. Unlike the Arctic where lead pollution peaked in the 1970s, lead pollution in Antarctica was as high in the early 20th century as at any time since industrialization. The similar timing and magnitude of changes in lead deposition across Antarctica, as well as the characteristic isotopic signature of Broken Hill lead found throughout the continent, suggest that this single emission source in southern Australia was responsible for the introduction of lead pollution into Antarctica at the end of the 19th century and remains a significant source today. An estimated 660 t of industrial lead have been deposited over Antarctica during the past 130 years as a result of mid-latitude industrial emissions, with regional-to-global scale circulation likely modulating aerosol concentrations. Despite abatement efforts, significant lead pollution in Antarctica persists into the 21st century.