The effects of diachronous surface uplift of the European Alps on regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation

Abstract δ 18 p) to different along-strike topographic evolution scenarios. These simulations are conducted to determine if the previously hypothesized diachronous surface uplift in the Western and Eastern Alps would produce δ 18 p signals in the geologic record that are sufficiently large and distinct to be detected using stable isotope paleoaltimetry. We present a series of topographic sensitivity experiments conducted with the water-isotope-tracking atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) ECHAM5-wiso. The topographic scenarios are created from the variation of two free parameters, (1) the elevation of the Western–Central Alps and (2) the elevation of the Eastern Alps. The results indicate Δ δ 18 p values (i.e., the difference between δ 18 p values at the low- and high-elevation sites) of up to - 8  ‰ along the strike of the Alps for the diachronous uplift scenarios, primarily due to changes in orographic precipitation and adiabatic lapse rate driven localized changes in near-surface variables. These simulated magnitudes of Δ δ 18 p values suggest that the expected isotopic signal would be significant enough to be preserved and measured in geologic archives. Moreover, the simulated slight δ 18 p differences of 1 ‰–2 ‰ across the low-elevation sites support the use of the δ δ δ 18 p (“isotopic lapse rate”) varies depending on the topographic configuration and the extent of the surface uplift. Most of the changes are significant (e.g., - 1.04  ‰ km- 1 ± 0.09  ‰ km- 1 - 0.15  ‰ km- 1 ± 0.13  ‰ km- 1). The results also highlight the plausible changes in atmospheric circulation patterns and associated changes in moisture transport pathways in response to changes in the topography of the Alps. These large-scale atmospheric dynamics changes can complicate the underlying assumption of stable isotope paleoaltimetry and therefore require integration with paleoclimate modeling to ensure accurate reconstruction of the paleoelevation of the Alps.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Standort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Umfang: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: The effects of diachronous surface uplift of the European Alps on regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation ; volume:14 ; number:6 ; year:2023 ; pages:1183-1210 ; extent:28 ; Earth System Dynamics ; 14, Heft 6 (2023), 1183-1210 (gesamt 28)

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Urheber: Boateng, Daniel ; Mutz, Sebastian ; Ballian, Armelle ; Meijers, Maud J. M. ; Methner, Katharina ; Botsyun, Svetlana ; Mulch, Andreas ; Ehlers, Todd

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: 10.5194/esd-14-1183-2023
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023112303254676674576
• Rechteinformation: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 15.08.2025, 07:28 MESZ