Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2021-53
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2021-53
28 May 2021
 | 28 May 2021
Status: this preprint has been withdrawn by the authors.

Tree-ring oxygen isotope based inferences on winter and summer moisture dynamics over the glacier valleys of Central Himalaya

Nilendu Singh, Mayank Shekhar, Bikash Ranjan Parida, Anil K. Gupta, Kalachand Sain, Santosh K. Rai, Achim Bräuning, Vikram Sharma, and Reet Kamal Tiwari

Abstract. Accelerated glacier mass loss is primarily attributed to greenhouse-induced warming, but land–climate interaction has increasingly been recognized as an important forcing at the regional-local scale. However, the related effects on the Himalayan glaciers are less explored but believed to be an important factor regulating spatial heterogeneity. This study aims to present a multi-decadal approximation on hydroclimate and glacier interaction over the western central Himalaya (WCH). Three highly coherent, multi-species, tree-ring δ18O site-chronologies from WCH were used to derive regional changes in atmospheric humidity (atmospheric moisture content: AMC) since the last four centuries. Coherency analyses between AMC and glacier mass balance (GMB: tree-ring δ13C-derived) indicate an abrupt phase-shift since the 1960s within a common record of 273 years. To ascertain the cause of phase-shift, annual AMC was disintegrated into seasonal-scale, utilizing δ18O record of deciduous species. Seasonal (winter: October–March; & summer-accumulation season: April–September) decomposition results reveal that winter-westerlies rather than summer precipitation from Indian summer monsoon (ISM) govern the ice-mass variability in WCH. Decadal coherency between summer-season AMC and GMB remained relatively stable since the mid-20th century, despite a decline in central Himalayan summer precipitation (tree-ring δ18O records). We hypothesize that excess water vapor brought to the atmosphere through increase in pre-monsoon precipitation and greening-mediated increase in evapotranspiration might have been recycled through the summer season to compensate for the ISM part of precipitation. However, isotope-enabled ecophysiological models and measurements would be able to strengthen this hypothesis. In addition, high-resolution radiative forcing and glacier valley-scale vegetation trend analyses point towards a probable influence of greening on GMB. Results indicate that attribution of ice-mass to large-scale dynamics is likely to be modulated by local vegetation changes. We contend that glacier-climate models fed with these feedback processes could reliably improve the projections.

This preprint has been withdrawn.

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Nilendu Singh, Mayank Shekhar, Bikash Ranjan Parida, Anil K. Gupta, Kalachand Sain, Santosh K. Rai, Achim Bräuning, Vikram Sharma, and Reet Kamal Tiwari

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on cp-2021-53', Anonymous Referee #1, 04 Jul 2021
  • RC2: 'Comment on cp-2021-53', Anonymous Referee #2, 21 Sep 2021

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on cp-2021-53', Anonymous Referee #1, 04 Jul 2021
  • RC2: 'Comment on cp-2021-53', Anonymous Referee #2, 21 Sep 2021
Nilendu Singh, Mayank Shekhar, Bikash Ranjan Parida, Anil K. Gupta, Kalachand Sain, Santosh K. Rai, Achim Bräuning, Vikram Sharma, and Reet Kamal Tiwari
Nilendu Singh, Mayank Shekhar, Bikash Ranjan Parida, Anil K. Gupta, Kalachand Sain, Santosh K. Rai, Achim Bräuning, Vikram Sharma, and Reet Kamal Tiwari

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Short summary
Tree-ring isotope records from central Himalaya provided a basis for century-scale approximation on hydroclimate and glacier interaction. Multi-species isotopic coherencies specify an abrupt phase-shift since the 1960s and the governing role of winter-westerlies in regional ice-mass variability. Radiative forcing and glacier valley-scale vegetation trend analyses indicate that attribution of ice-mass to large-scale dynamics is likely to be modulated by local vegetation changes.