scholarly journals Volcanic glass properties from 1459 C.E. volcanic event in South Pole ice core dismiss Kuwae caldera as a potential source

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura H. Hartman ◽  
Andrei V. Kurbatov ◽  
Dominic A. Winski ◽  
Alicia M. Cruz-Uribe ◽  
Siwan M. Davies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruption ◽  
Energy Dispersive Spectrometer ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Glass ◽  
South Pole ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Electron Microscopy Analysis ◽  
Microscopy Analysis ◽  
Future Work

Abstract A large volcanic sulfate increase observed in ice core records around 1450 C.E. has been attributed in previous studies to a volcanic eruption from the submarine Kuwae caldera in Vanuatu. Both EPMA–WDS (electron microprobe analysis using a wavelength dispersive spectrometer) and SEM–EDS (scanning electron microscopy analysis using an energy dispersive spectrometer) analyses of five microscopic volcanic ash (cryptotephra) particles extracted from the ice interval associated with a rise in sulfate ca. 1458 C.E. in the South Pole ice core (SPICEcore) indicate that the tephra deposits are chemically distinct from those erupted from the Kuwae caldera. Recognizing that the sulfate peak is not associated with the Kuwae volcano, and likely not a large stratospheric tropical eruption, requires revision of the stratospheric sulfate injection mass that is used for parameterization of paleoclimate models. Future work is needed to confirm that a volcanic eruption from Mt. Reclus is one of the possible sources of the 1458 C.E. sulfate anomaly in Antarctic ice cores.

Volcanoes, ice-cores and tree-rings: one story or two?

Antiquity ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (323) ◽  
pp. 202-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.G.L. Baillie
Keyword(s):  
Tree Rings ◽  
Volcanic Eruption ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
Dating Methods

Good archaeology relies on ever more precise dates – obtainable, notably, from ice-cores and dendrochronology. These each provide year-by-year sequences, but they must be anchored at some point to real historical time, by a documented volcanic eruption, for example. But what if the dating methods don't agree? Here the author throws down the gauntlet to the ice-core researchers – their assigned dates are several years too old, probably due to the spurious addition of ‘uncertain’ layers. Leave these out and the two methods correlate exactly…

scholarly journals Stable-Isotope Ratios and Concentration of CO2 in Air from Polar Ice Cores

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Siegenthaler ◽  
H. Friedli ◽  
H. Loetscher ◽  
E. Moor ◽  
A. Neftel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
South Pole ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Isotopic Equilibrium ◽  
Calculated Equilibrium ◽  
Fractionation Factors

Analyses of air trapped in an ice core from the South Pole indicate that the CO2 concentration may have increased by about 10 ppm and that the 13C/12C ratio decreased slightly in the thirteenth century. These changes, if really of atmospheric origin, must be due to a significant input into the atmosphere of CO2, either of biogenic or of oceanic origin. 18O/16O ratios in CO2 from different ice cores are much lower than those which have been observed in atmospheric carbon dioxide. A possible explanation is that the CO2 has equilibrated isotopically with the ice. We have calculated equilibrium isotope-fractionation factors between ice and carbon dioxide and found that the observed 18O/16O ratios of CO2 are indeed near isotopic equilibrium with the ice. This indicates that an exchange of oxygen atoms probably occurs between ice and included CO2.

scholarly journals Topographic control of regional accumulation rate variability at South Pole and implications for ice-core interpretation

2004 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 214-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon S. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Topographic Effects ◽  
South Pole ◽  
Accumulation Rates ◽  
Surface Slope ◽  
Ice Dynamics

AbstractSnow-accumulation rates are known to be sensitive to local changes in ice-sheet surface slope because of the effect of katabatic winds. These topographic effects can be preserved in ice cores that are collected at non-ice-divide locations. The trajectory of an ice-core site at South Pole is reconstructed using measurements of ice-sheet motion to show that snow was probably deposited at places of different surface slope during the past 1000 years. Recent accumulation rates, derived from shallow firn cores, vary along this trajectory according to surface topography, so that on a relatively steep flank mean annual accumulation is ∼18% smaller than on a nearby topographic depression. These modern accumulation rates are used to reinterpret the cause of accumulation rate variability with time in the long ice-core record as an ice-dynamics effect and not a climate-change signal. The results highlight the importance of conducting ancillary ice-dynamics measurements as part of ice-coring programs so that topographic effects can be deconvolved from potential climate signals.

scholarly journals A 200 year sulfate record from 16 Antarctic ice cores and associations with Southern Ocean sea-ice extent

2005 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 155-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dixon ◽  
Paul A. Mayewski ◽  
Susan Kaspari ◽  
Karl Kreutz ◽  
Gordon Hamilton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
South Pole ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
The South ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Low Latitudes

AbstractChemistry data from 16, 50–115m deep, sub-annually dated ice cores are used to investigate spatial and temporal concentration variability of sea-salt (ss) SO42– and excess (xs) SO42– over West Antarctica and the South Pole for the last 200 years. Low-elevation ice-core sites in western West Antarctica contain higher concentrations of SO42– as a result of cyclogenesis over the Ross Ice Shelf and proximity to the Ross Sea Polynya. Linear correlation analysis of 15 West Antarctic ice-core SO42– time series demonstrates that at several sites concentrations of ssSO42– are higher when sea-ice extent (SIE) is greater, and the inverse for xsSO42–. Concentrations of xsSO42– from the South Pole site (East Antarctica) are associated with SIE from the Weddell region, and West Antarctic xsSO42– concentrations are associated with SIE from the Bellingshausen–Amundsen–Ross region. The only notable rise of the last 200 years in xsSO42–, around 1940, is not related to SIE fluctuations and is most likely a result of increased xsSO42– production in the mid–low latitudes and/or an increase in transport efficiency from the mid–low latitudes to central West Antarctica. These high-resolution records show that the source types and source areas of ssSO42– and xsSO42– delivered to eastern and western West Antarctica and the South Pole differ from site to site but can best be resolved using records from spatial ice-core arrays such as the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE).

scholarly journals Stable-Isotope Ratios and Concentration of CO2in Air from Polar Ice Cores

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Siegenthaler ◽  
H. Friedli ◽  
H. Loetscher ◽  
E. Moor ◽  
A. Neftel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
South Pole ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Isotopic Equilibrium ◽  
Calculated Equilibrium ◽  
Fractionation Factors

Analyses of air trapped in an ice core from the South Pole indicate that the CO2concentration may have increased by about 10 ppm and that the13C/12C ratio decreased slightly in the thirteenth century. These changes, if really of atmospheric origin, must be due to a significant input into the atmosphere of CO2, either of biogenic or of oceanic origin.18O/16O ratios in CO2from different ice cores are much lower than those which have been observed in atmospheric carbon dioxide. A possible explanation is that the CO2has equilibrated isotopically with the ice. We have calculated equilibrium isotope-fractionation factors between ice and carbon dioxide and found that the observed18O/16O ratios of CO2are indeed near isotopic equilibrium with the ice. This indicates that an exchange of oxygen atoms probably occurs between ice and included CO2.

scholarly journals New insights into the  ∼ 74 ka Toba eruption from sulfur isotopes of polar ice cores

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 2119-2137
Author(s):  
Laura Crick ◽  
Andrea Burke ◽  
William Hutchison ◽  
Mika Kohno ◽  
Kathryn A. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Isotopes ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
Amplifying Effect ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The ∼74 ka Toba eruption was one of the largest volcanic events of the Quaternary. There is much interest in determining the impact of such a large event, particularly on the climate and hominid populations at the time. Although the Toba eruption has been identified in both land and marine archives as the Youngest Toba Tuff, its precise place in the ice core record is ambiguous. Several volcanic sulfate signals have been identified in both Antarctic and Greenland ice cores and span the Toba eruption 40Ar/39Ar age uncertainty. Here, we measure sulfur isotope compositions in Antarctic ice samples from the Dome C (EDC) and Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice cores at high temporal resolution across 11 of these potential Toba sulfate peaks to identify candidates with sulfur mass-independent fractionation (S-MIF), indicative of an eruption whose plume reached altitudes at or above the stratospheric ozone layer. Using this method, we identify several candidate sulfate peaks that contain stratospheric sulfur. We further narrow down potential candidates based on the isotope signatures by identifying sulfate peaks that are due to a volcanic event at tropical latitudes. In one of these sulfate peaks at 73.67 ka, we find the largest ever reported magnitude of S-MIF in volcanic sulfate in polar ice, with a Δ33S value of −4.75 ‰. As there is a positive correlation between the magnitude of the S-MIF signal recorded in ice cores and eruptive plume height, this could be a likely candidate for the Toba super-eruption, with a plume top height in excess of 45 km. These results support the 73.7±0.3 ka (1σ) 40Ar/39Ar age estimate for the eruption, with ice core ages of our candidates with the largest magnitude S-MIF at 73.67 and 73.74 ka. Finally, since these candidate eruptions occurred on the transition into Greenland Stadial 20, the relative timing suggests that Toba was not the trigger for the large Northern Hemisphere cooling at this time although we cannot rule out an amplifying effect.

scholarly journals Leads and lags between Antarctic temperature and carbon dioxide during the last deglaciation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léa Gest ◽  
Frédéric Parrenin ◽  
Jai Chowdhry Beeman ◽  
Dominique Raynaud ◽  
Tyler J. Fudge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
The Last Deglaciation ◽  
Paleoclimate Records ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. To understand causal relationships in past climate variations, it is essential to have accurate chronologies of paleoclimate records. The last deglaciation, which occurred from 18 000 to 11 000 years ago, is especially interesting, since it is the most recent large climatic variation of global extent. Ice cores in Antarctica provide important paleoclimate proxies, such as regional temperature and global atmospheric CO2. However, temperature is recorded in the ice while CO2 is recorded in the enclosed air bubbles. The ages of the former and of the latter are different since air is trapped at 50–120 m below the surface. It is therefore necessary to correct for this air-ice shift to accurately infer the sequence of events. Here we accurately determine the phasing between East Antarctic temperature and atmospheric CO2 variations during the last deglacial warming based on Antarctic ice core records. We build a stack of East Antarctic temperature variations by averaging the records from 4 ice cores (EPICA Dome C, Dome Fuji, EPICA Dronning Maud Land and Talos Dome), all accurately synchronized by volcanic event matching. We place this stack onto the WAIS Divide WD2014 age scale by synchronizing EPICA Dome C and WAIS Divide using volcanic event matching, which allows comparison with the high resolution CO2 record from WAIS Divide. Since WAIS Divide is a high accumulation site, its air age scale, which has previously been determined by firn modeling, is more robust. Finally, we assess the CO2/Antarctic temperature phasing by determining four periods when their trends change abruptly. We find that at the onset of the last deglaciation and at the onset of the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR) period CO2 and Antarctic temperature are synchronous within a range of 210 years. Then CO2 slightly leads by 165 ± 116 years at the end of the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR) period. Finally, Antarctic temperature significantly leads by 406 ± 200 years at the onset of the Holocene period. Our results further support the hypothesis of no convective zone at EPICA Dome C during the last deglaciation and the use of nitrogen-15 to infer the height of the diffusive zone. Future climate and carbon cycle modeling works should take into account this robust phasing constraint.

Climatic imprint in the mechanical properties of ice sheets and its effect on ice flow: Observations from South Pole and EPICA Dome C ice cores

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Martin ◽  
Howard Conway ◽  
Michelle Koutnik ◽  
Catherine Ritz ◽  
Thomas Bauska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Crystal Orientation ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
South Pole ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Phase Sensitive ◽  
Glacial Periods ◽  
Ice Core Records

<p>The climatic conditions over ice sheets at the time of snow deposition and compaction imprint distinctive crystallographic properties to the resulting ice. As the snow gets buried, its macroscopic structure evolves due to vertical compression but retains traces of the climatic imprint that generate distinctive mechanical, thermal and optical properties. Because climate alternates between glaciar periods, that are colder and dustier, and interglacial periods, the ice sheets are composed from layers with alternating mechanical properties. Here we compare ice core dust content and crystal orientation fabrics, from the ice core records, with englacial vertical strain-rates, measured with a phase-sensitive radar (ApRES), at South Pole and EPICA Dome C ice cores. Similarly to previous observations, we show that ice deposited during glacial periods develops stronger crystal orientation fabrics. In addition, we show that ice deposited during glacial periods is harder to vertically compress and horizontally extend, up to about 3 times, but softer to shear. These variations in mechanical properties are typically ignored in ice-flow modelling but they could be critical to interpret ice core records. Also, we show that the changes in crystal orientation fabrics due to transitions from interglacial to glacial conditions can be detected by phase-sensitive radar. This information can be used to constrain age-depth in future ice-core locations.</p>

Ice record of a 13th century explosive volcanic eruption in northern Victoria Land, East Antarctica

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biancamaria Narcisi ◽  
Marco Proposito ◽  
Massimo Frezzotti
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruption ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Volcanic Province ◽  
The Core ◽  
Victoria Land

A volcanic event, represented by both coarse ash and a prominent sulphate peak, has been detected at a depth of 85.82 m in a 90 m ice core drilled at Talos Dome, northern Victoria Land. Accurate dating of the core, based on counting annual sulphate and nitrate fluctuations and on comparison with records of major known volcanic eruptions, indicates that the event occurred in 1254 ± 2 AD. The source volcano is most likely to be located within the Ross Sea region. In particular, the glass shards have a trachytic composition similar to rocks from The Pleiades and Mount Rittmann (Melbourne volcanic province), about 200 km from Talos Dome. Sulphate concentration is comparable with that of violent extra-Antarctic explosive events recorded in the same core, but atmospheric perturbation was short-lived and localized, suggesting a negligible impact on regional climate. It is suggested that this eruption may represent the most important volcanic explosion in the Melbourne province during the last eight centuries; thus this event may also represent a valuable chrono-stratigraphical marker on the East Antarctic plateau and in adjoining areas.

scholarly journals Carbonyl sulfide in air extracted from a South Pole ice core: a 2000 year record

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (24) ◽  
pp. 7533-7542 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Aydin ◽  
M. B. Williams ◽  
C. Tatum ◽  
E. S. Saltzman
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Carbonyl Sulfide ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
South Pole ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Past 2000 Years ◽  
Secular Variability

Abstract. In this study, we present carbonyl sulfide (COS) measurements from an ice core drilled near South Pole, East Antarctica (SPRESSO). The samples are from 135–291 m, with estimated mean COS ages ranging from 278 to 2155 years before present (defined as 2000 C.E.). When combined with the previous records of COS from Antarctic ice cores and firn air, the current data provide a continuous record of COS extending beyond the last two millennia. The general agreement between ice cores, firn air, and modern air measurements supports the idea that polar ice is a valid archive for paleoatmospheric COS. The average COS mixing ratio of the SPRESSO data set is (331±18) ppt (parts per trillion in mol/mol, ±1σ, n=100), excluding 6 outliers. These data confirm earlier firn air and ice core measurements indicating that the late 20th century COS levels of 500 ppt are greatly increased over preindustrial levels and represent the highest atmospheric levels over the past 2000 years. The data also provide evidence of climate-related variability on centennial time-scales, with relative maxima at the peaks of Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age. There is evidence for a long-term increasing trend in COS of 1.8 ppt per 100 years. Further ice core studies will be needed to determine whether this trend reflects secular variability in atmospheric COS, or a slow post-depositional chemical loss of COS in the ice core.

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