Quantifying the Contribution of Multiple Processes to the Dust Decreasing Trend in the Guliya Ice Core Over the Past 50 Years

Abstract

Abstract Dust records extracted from ice cores can facilitate the reconstruction of historical atmospheric dust levels and climate change. However, interpreting dust variations in ice cores is intricate because of the compounded influence of emission, transport, and deposition processes. This study investigated dust records retrieved from the Guliya ice cap drilled in 2015 on the West Tibetan Plateau using a mean trajectory transport and deposition model. Results showed that the Guliya dust concentration has exhibited a declining trend since the 1960s (−751 μg kg−1 yr−1). Applying an attribution approach, we discovered that low dust emission (80.3%) was the main cause of the drop in dust concentration, with changes related to transportation (5.2%) and deposition (14.5%) making only minor contributions. The weakening of surface wind speed in the desert and increasing precipitation in both the desert and glacier were the primary factors driving the decrease in Guliya dust concentration.