Reconstructing East Antarctic Temperature and Snowfall Variability from δ15N of N2

Reconstructing East Antarctic Temperature and Snowfall Variability from δ15N of N2 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reconstructing East Antarctic Temperature and Snowfall Variability from δ 15 N of N 2 Marie Bouchet, Amaelle Landais, Anna Maria Klüssendorf, Louisa Brückner, and 13 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8345157/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract East Antarctic ice cores registered variations in local surface temperature and atmospheric composition over the past 800,000 years. However, identifying the precise timing between changes in temperature inferred from the ice and greenhouse gases records is challenging. It assumes that the modern δD–temperature relationship holds over time and there are uncertainties in the age offset between ice and air at a same depth. An alternative approach uses the δ15N of N2, measured in the air-phase, as a proxy for past temperature and snowfall accumulation. Still, a complete understanding of the processes governing δ15N changes is missing. Here we present a δ15N record from the EPICA Dome C ice core covering 800–100 ka. Comparison with a firn densification model driven by δD-based temperature and accumulation reconstructions reveals major discrepancies during glacial intervals at high obliquity. Sensitivity tests with an intermediate complexity climate model reveal that this mismatch is linked to δD not capturing the full variability of the temperature and accumulation. Our finding supports the use of δ15N as a climate tracer to make the link with greenhouse gases concentration and suggests combining δD and δ15N to best reconstruct temperature and accumulation. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files d15Ndata.xlsx Supplementary Dataset 1 SupplementaryMaterial.pdf Supplementary Material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8345157","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":572309104,"identity":"82cdbebd-9833-4826-a5f3-2f4eb11e7cd7","order_by":0,"name":"Marie 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N\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature 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However, identifying the precise timing between changes in temperature inferred from the ice and greenhouse gases records is challenging. It assumes that the modern δD–temperature relationship holds over time and there are uncertainties in the age offset between ice and air at a same depth. An alternative approach uses the δ15N of N2, measured in the air-phase, as a proxy for past temperature and snowfall accumulation. Still, a complete understanding of the processes governing δ15N changes is missing. Here we present a δ15N record from the EPICA Dome C ice core covering 800–100 ka. Comparison with a firn densification model driven by δD-based temperature and accumulation reconstructions reveals major discrepancies during glacial intervals at high obliquity. Sensitivity tests with an intermediate complexity climate model reveal that this mismatch is linked to δD not capturing the full variability of the temperature and accumulation. Our finding supports the use of δ15N as a climate tracer to make the link with greenhouse gases concentration and suggests combining δD and δ15N to best reconstruct temperature and accumulation.","manuscriptTitle":"Reconstructing East Antarctic Temperature and Snowfall Variability from δ15N of N2","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-13 04:05:59","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8345157/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2dfbd0e9-005c-46f9-acfa-e4356aff9206","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":61034185,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate"},{"id":61034186,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-03T18:35:10+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-13 04:05:59","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8345157","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8345157","identity":"rs-8345157","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}