Tephra in the Greenland Ice cores: Insights into Icelandic volcano-climate impacts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imogen Gabriel ◽  
Gill Plunkett ◽  
Peter Abbott ◽  
Bergrún Óladóttir ◽  
Joseph McConnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Geochemical Analysis ◽  
Volcanic Events ◽  
Societal Impacts ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ice Core Records

<p>Volcanic eruptions are considered as one of the primary natural drivers for changes in the global climate system and understanding the impact of past eruptions on the climate is integral to adopt appropriate responses towards future volcanic eruptions.</p><p>The Greenland ice core records are dominated by Icelandic eruptions, with several volcanic systems (Katla, Hekla, Bárðarbunga-Veiðivötn and Grimsvötn) being highly active throughout the Holocene. A notable period of increased Icelandic volcanic activity occurred between 500-1250 AD and coincided with climatic changes in the North Atlantic region which may have facilitated the Viking settlement of Greenland and Iceland. However, a number of these volcanic events are poorly constrained (duration and magnitude). Consequently, the Greenland ice cores offer the opportunity to reliably reconstruct past Icelandic volcanism (duration, magnitude and frequency) due to their high-resolution, the proximity of Iceland to Greenland and subsequent increased likelihood of volcanic fallout deposits (tephra particles and sulphur aerosols) being preserved. However, both the high frequency of eruptions between 500-1250 AD and the geochemical similarity of Iceland’s volcanic centres present challenges in making the required robust geochemical correlations between the source volcano and the ice core records and ultimately reliably assessing the climatic-societal impacts of these eruptions.</p><p>To address this, we use two Greenland ice core records (TUNU2013 and B19) and undertake geochemical analysis on tephra from the volcanic events in the selected time window which have been detected and sampled using novel techniques (insoluble particle peaks and sulphur acidity peaks). Further geochemical analysis of proximal material enables robust correlations to be made between the events in the ice core records and their volcanic centres. The high-resolution of these polar archives provides a precise age for the event and when utilised alongside other proxies (i.e. sulphur aerosols), both the duration and magnitude of these eruptions can be constrained, and the climatic-societal impacts of these eruptions reliably assessed.</p>

First continuous high-resolution aerosol record from the East Greenland Ice Core Project (EGRIP), covering the last 15,000 years

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Marie Jensen ◽  
Tobias Erhardt ◽  
Giulia Sinnl ◽  
Hubertus Fischer
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Background Level ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Data Set

<p>Ice sheets are reliable archives of atmospheric impurities such as aerosols and gasses of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Impurity records from Greenland ice cores reveal much information about previous atmospheric conditions and long-range transport in the Northern hemisphere going back more than a hundred thousand years.</p><p>Here we present the data from the upper 1,411 m from the EGRIP ice core, measuring conductivity, dust, sodium, calcium, ammonium, and nitrate. These records contain information about ocean sources, transport of terrestrial dust, soil and vegetation emissions as well as biomass burning, volcanic eruptions, etc., covering approximately the past 15,000 years. This newly obtained data set is unique as it provides the first high-resolution information about several thousands of years of the mid-Holocene period in Greenland that none of the previous impurity records from the other deep Greenland ice cores had managed to cover before due to brittle ice. This will contribute to further understanding of the atmospheric conditions for the pre-industrial period.</p><p>The ammonium record contains peaks significantly higher than the background level. These peaks are caused by biomass burning or forest fires emitting plumes of ammonia large enough so that they can extend to the free troposphere and be efficiently transported all the way to the Greenland ice sheet. Here we present preliminary results of the wild fire frequency covering the entire Holocene, where the wild fires are defined as outliers in the ammonium record of annual means.</p>

scholarly journals A 200 year sub-annual record of sulfate in West Antarctica, from 16 ice cores

2004 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 545-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dixon ◽  
Paul A. Mayewski ◽  
Susan Kaspari ◽  
Sharon Sneed ◽  
Mike Handley
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Volcanic Events ◽  
Climate Transition ◽  
Better Than

AbstractSixteen high-resolution ice-core records from West Antarctica and South Pole are used to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of sulfate for the last 200 years. The preservation of seasonal layers throughout the length of each record results in a dating accuracy of better than 1 year based on known global-scale volcanic events. A dual transport source for West Antarctic sea-salt (ss) SO42– and excess (xs) SO42– is observed: lower-tropospheric for areas below 1000m elevation and mid-/upper-tropospheric/stratospheric for areas located above 1000 m. Our xsSO42– records with volcanic peaks removed do not display any evidence of an anthropogenic impact on West Antarctic SO42– concentrations but do reveal that a major climate transition takes place over West Antarctica at ∼1940. Global-scale volcanic eruptions appear as significant peaks in the robust-spline residual xsSO42– records from sites located above 1000m elevation but do not appear in the residual records from sites located below 1000 m.

scholarly journals Air–snow transfer of nitrate on the East Antarctic Plateau – Part 2: An isotopic model for the interpretation of deep ice-core records

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (20) ◽  
pp. 12079-12113 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Erbland ◽  
J. Savarino ◽  
S. Morin ◽  
J. L. France ◽  
M. M. Frey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Reactive Nitrogen ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Surface Snow ◽  
Rate Building ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ice Core Records

Abstract. Unraveling the modern budget of reactive nitrogen on the Antarctic Plateau is critical for the interpretation of ice-core records of nitrate. This requires accounting for nitrate recycling processes occurring in near-surface snow and the overlying atmospheric boundary layer. Not only concentration measurements but also isotopic ratios of nitrogen and oxygen in nitrate provide constraints on the processes at play. However, due to the large number of intertwined chemical and physical phenomena involved, numerical modeling is required to test hypotheses in a quantitative manner. Here we introduce the model TRANSITS (TRansfer of Atmospheric Nitrate Stable Isotopes To the Snow), a novel conceptual, multi-layer and one-dimensional model representing the impact of processes operating on nitrate at the air–snow interface on the East Antarctic Plateau, in terms of concentrations (mass fraction) and nitrogen (δ15N) and oxygen isotopic composition (17O excess, Δ17O) in nitrate. At the air–snow interface at Dome C (DC; 75° 06' S, 123° 19' E), the model reproduces well the values of δ15N in atmospheric and surface snow (skin layer) nitrate as well as in the δ15N profile in DC snow, including the observed extraordinary high positive values (around +300 ‰) below 2 cm. The model also captures the observed variability in nitrate mass fraction in the snow. While oxygen data are qualitatively reproduced at the air–snow interface at DC and in East Antarctica, the simulated Δ17O values underestimate the observed Δ17O values by several per mill. This is explained by the simplifications made in the description of the atmospheric cycling and oxidation of NO2 as well as by our lack of understanding of the NOx chemistry at Dome C. The model reproduces well the sensitivity of δ15N, Δ17O and the apparent fractionation constants (15ϵapp, 17Eapp) to the snow accumulation rate. Building on this development, we propose a framework for the interpretation of nitrate records measured from ice cores. Measurement of nitrate mass fractions and δ15N in the nitrate archived in an ice core may be used to derive information about past variations in the total ozone column and/or the primary inputs of nitrate above Antarctica as well as in nitrate trapping efficiency (defined as the ratio between the archived nitrate flux and the primary nitrate input flux). The Δ17O of nitrate could then be corrected from the impact of cage recombination effects associated with the photolysis of nitrate in snow. Past changes in the relative contributions of the Δ17O in the primary inputs of nitrate and the Δ17O in the locally cycled NO2 and that inherited from the additional O atom in the oxidation of NO2 could then be determined. Therefore, information about the past variations in the local and long-range processes operating on reactive nitrogen species could be obtained from ice cores collected in low-accumulation regions such as the Antarctic Plateau.

scholarly journals An improved north–south synchronization of ice core records around the 41 kyr <sup>10</sup>Be peak

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant M. Raisbeck ◽  
Alexandre Cauquoin ◽  
Jean Jouzel ◽  
Amaelle Landais ◽  
Jean-Robert Petit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Geomagnetic Excursion ◽  
Depth Difference ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Ice Core Records

Abstract. Using new high-resolution 10Be measurements in the NGRIP, EDML and Vostok ice cores, together with previously published data from EDC, we present an improved synchronization between Greenland and Antarctic ice cores during the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion  ∼  41 kyr ago. We estimate the precision of this synchronization to be ±20 years, an order of magnitude better than previous work. We discuss the implications of this new synchronization for making improved estimates of the depth difference between ice and enclosed gas of the same age (Δdepth), difference between age of ice and enclosed gas at the same depth (Δage) in the EDC and EDML ice cores, spectral properties of the 10Be profiles and phasing between Dansgaard–Oeschger-10 (in NGRIP) and AIM-10 (in EDML and EDC).

scholarly journals Variability of sulfate signal in ice core records based on five replicate cores

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Gautier ◽  
J. Savarino ◽  
J. Erbland ◽  
A. Lanciki ◽  
P. Possenti
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Flux Measurement ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Snow Drift ◽  
Volcanic Events

Abstract. Current volcanic reconstructions based on ice core analysis have significantly improved over the past few decades by incorporating multiple-core analyses with a high temporal resolution from different parts of the polar regions into a composite common volcanic eruption record. Regional patterns of volcanic deposition are based on composite records, built from cores taken at both poles. However, in many cases only a single record at a given site is used for these reconstructions. This assumes that transport and regional meteorological patterns are the only source of the dispersion of the volcanic products. Here we evaluate the local-scale variability of a sulfate profile in a low-accumulation site (Dome C, Antarctica), in order to assess the representativeness of one core for such a reconstruction. We evaluate the variability with depth, statistical occurrence, and sulfate flux deposition variability of volcanic eruptions detected in five ice cores, drilled 1 m apart from each other. Local-scale variability, essentially attributed to snow drift and surface roughness at Dome C, can lead to a non-exhaustive record of volcanic events when a single core is used as the site reference, with a bulk probability of 30 % of missing volcanic events and close to 65 % uncertainty on one volcanic flux measurement (based on the standard deviation obtained from a five-core comparison). Averaging n records reduces the uncertainty of the deposited flux mean significantly (by a factor 1∕ √ n); in the case of five cores, the uncertainty of the mean flux can therefore be reduced to 29 %.

A millennium-long 'Blue Ring' chronology from Bristlecone Pine as a record of volcanic forcing on climate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Siekacz ◽  
Matthew Salzer ◽  
Charlotte Pearson ◽  
Marcin Koprowski
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Time Resolution ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Bristlecone Pine ◽  
Ice Core Records

&lt;p&gt;'Blue Rings' (BRs) are distinct wood anatomical anomalies recently discovered in several tree species. Previous studies connect their occurrence to lower than normal temperatures during the cell wall lignification phase of xylogenesis. Cell wall lignification usually continues after radial growth is completed, after the growth season. Therefore, systematic analysis of blue rings can add another level of time resolution to dendroclimatic studies. Additionally, BRs are more sensitive temperature recorders than frost rings which require freezing temperatures to form. We&amp;#160; present a continuous chronology of blue rings in North American bristlecone pine covering the last millennium and their connections to volcanic eruptions known both from historic and ice core records. Most recorded BR years coincide with cooling following large volcanic eruptions. The three most prominent events during the last 1000 years, with the highest share of blue rings in bristlecone pine from the White Mountains of California are at: 1453, 1601 and 1884CE (83%, 91%, 69% of blue rings respectively), attributed to known eruptions of Kuawe (attribution still debated) 1452CE -Vanuatu, Huaynaputina 1600CE &amp;#8211; Peru, and Krakatoa 1883CE - Indonesia. Fourth most prominent event with 58% of blue rings is noted in 1200CE. Acidity peak in 1200CE is so far recorded only in Greenland ice-cores suggesting northern hemisphere high latitude eruption, but strong BR signal would suggest a broader climatic significance of this event. It is interesting to note that BRs were indicated in 69% of samples in 1884, relating to the known eruption and associated climate impact of Krakatoa (1883), yet no BRs were observed in 1816, the so-called year without a summer which followed the largest historically noted and well described eruption of Tambora, Indonesia (1815). We did find a strong BR signal in 1809 (with BRs continuing in 1810 and 1811) following an unidentified but prominent eruption seen in ice core records. The 1809 and 1815 eruptions are thought to be responsible for the cold decade from 1810 to 1819 thought by some to be the coldest decade of the last 500ys. The source of 1809 eruption remains unknown and scientific debate over the scale of the eruption continues, but bipolar acidity peaks in ice cores point to a tropical eruption with widespread sulfate distribution to both hemispheres and tephra in ice cores points to two coinciding high latitude eruptions of only regional prominence. The BR record supports 1809 CE as an event of global climatic significance illustrating the capacity for BRs&amp;#160; to capture cooling events with even higher time resolution (after the radial growth is completed) and of smaller magnitude than frost rings, TRW or MXD studies to help better investigate and understand the impacts of volcanism on climate and society.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Synchronous volcanic eruptions and abrupt climate change ∼17.7 ka plausibly linked by stratospheric ozone depletion

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (38) ◽  
pp. 10035-10040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. McConnell ◽  
Andrea Burke ◽  
Nelia W. Dunbar ◽  
Peter Köhler ◽  
Jennie L. Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
West Antarctic

Glacial-state greenhouse gas concentrations and Southern Hemisphere climate conditions persisted until ∼17.7 ka, when a nearly synchronous acceleration in deglaciation was recorded in paleoclimate proxies in large parts of the Southern Hemisphere, with many changes ascribed to a sudden poleward shift in the Southern Hemisphere westerlies and subsequent climate impacts. We used high-resolution chemical measurements in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide, Byrd, and other ice cores to document a unique, ∼192-y series of halogen-rich volcanic eruptions exactly at the start of accelerated deglaciation, with tephra identifying the nearby Mount Takahe volcano as the source. Extensive fallout from these massive eruptions has been found >2,800 km from Mount Takahe. Sulfur isotope anomalies and marked decreases in ice core bromine consistent with increased surface UV radiation indicate that the eruptions led to stratospheric ozone depletion. Rather than a highly improbable coincidence, circulation and climate changes extending from the Antarctic Peninsula to the subtropics—similar to those associated with modern stratospheric ozone depletion over Antarctica—plausibly link the Mount Takahe eruptions to the onset of accelerated Southern Hemisphere deglaciation ∼17.7 ka.

scholarly journals Air–snow transfer of nitrate on the East Antarctic plateau – Part 2: An isotopic model for the interpretation of deep ice-core records

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 6887-6966 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Erbland ◽  
J. Savarino ◽  
S. Morin ◽  
J. L. France ◽  
M. M. Frey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Reactive Nitrogen ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Surface Snow ◽  
Rate Building ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ice Core Records

Abstract. Unraveling the modern budget of reactive nitrogen on the Antarctic plateau is critical for the interpretation of ice core records of nitrate. This requires accounting for nitrate recycling processes occurring in near surface snow and the overlying atmospheric boundary layer. Not only concentration measurements, but also isotopic ratios of nitrogen and oxygen in nitrate, provide constraints on the processes at play. However, due to the large number of intertwined chemical and physical phenomena involved, numerical modelling is required to test hypotheses in a~quantitative manner. Here we introduce the model "TRansfer of Atmospheric Nitrate Stable Isotopes To the Snow" (TRANSITS), a~novel conceptual, multi-layer and one-dimensional model representing the impact of processes operating on nitrate at the air–snow interface on the East Antarctic plateau, in terms of concentrations (mass fraction) and the nitrogen (δ15N) and oxygen isotopic composition (17O}-excess, Δ17O) in nitrate. At the air–snow interface at Dome C (DC, 75°06' S, 123°19' E), the model reproduces well the values of δ15N in atmospheric and surface snow (skin layer) nitrate as well as in the δ15N profile in DC snow including the observed extraordinary high positive values (around +300 ‰) below 20 \\unit{cm}. The model also captures the observed variability in nitrate mass fraction in the snow. While oxygen data are qualitatively reproduced at the air–snow interface at DC and in East Antarctica, the simulated Δ17O values underestimate the observed Δ17O values by a~few~‰. This is explained by the simplifications made in the description of the atmospheric cycling and oxidation of NO2. The model reproduces well the sensitivity of δ15N, Δ17O and the apparent fractionation constants (15&amp;varepsilon;app, 17Eapp) to the snow accumulation rate. Building on this development, we propose a~framework for the interpretation of nitrate records measured from ice cores. Measurement of nitrate mass fractions and δ15N in the nitrate archived in an ice core, may be used to derive information about past variations in the total ozone column and/or the primary inputs of nitrate above Antarctica as well as in nitrate trapping efficiency (defined as the ratio between the archived nitrate flux and the primary nitrate input flux). The Δ17O of nitrate could then be corrected from the impact of cage recombination effects associated with the photolysis of nitrate in snow. Past changes in the relative contributions of the Δ17O in the primary inputs of nitrate and the Δ17O in the locally cycled NO2 could then be determined. Therefore, information about the past variations in the local and long range processes operating on reactive nitrogen species could be obtained from ice cores collected in low accumulation regions such as the Antarctic plateau.

scholarly journals Volcanic stratospheric sulphur injections and aerosol optical depth from 500 BCE to 1900 CE

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Toohey ◽  
Michael Sigl
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Volcanic Forcing ◽  
Global Mean ◽  
Ice Core Records

Abstract. The injection of sulphur into the stratosphere by explosive volcanic eruptions is the cause of significant climate variability. Based on sulphate records from a suite of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, the eVolv2k database includes estimates of the magnitudes and approximate source latitudes of major volcanic stratospheric sulphur injection (VSSI) events from 500 BCE to 1900 CE, constituting an update of prior reconstructions and an extension of the record by 1000 years. The VSSI estimates incorporate improvements to the ice core records in terms of synchronization and dating, refinements to the methods used to estimate VSSI from ice core records, and includes first estimates of the random uncertainties in VSSI values. VSSI estimates for many of the largest eruptions, including Samalas (1257), Tambora (1815) and Laki (1783) are within 10% of prior estimates. A number of strong events are included in eVolv2k which are largely underestimated or not included in earlier VSSI reconstructions, including events in 540, 574, 682 and 1108 CE. The long term annual mean VSSI from major volcanic eruptions is estimated to be ∼ 0.5 Tg [S] yr−1, ∼ 50 % greater than a prior reconstruction, due to the identification of more events and an increase in the magnitude of many intermediate events. A long-term, latitudinally and monthly resolved stratospheric aerosol optical depth (SAOD) time series is reconstructed from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates, and the resulting global mean SAOD is found to be similar (within 33%) to a prior reconstruction for most of the largest eruptions. The long-term (500 BCE–900 CE) average global mean SAOD estimated from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates and including a constant "background" injection of stratospheric sulphur is ∼ 0.014, 30 % greater than a prior reconstruction. These new long-term reconstructions of past VSSI and SAOD variability give context to recent volcanic forcing, suggesting that the 20th century was a period of somewhat weaker than average volcanic forcing, with current best estimates of 20th century mean VSSI and SAOD values being 25 and 14 % less, respectively, than the mean of the 500 BCE to 1900 CE period. The reconstructed VSSI and SAOD data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/WDCC/eVolv2k_v2>.

scholarly journals A refined TALDICE-1a age scale from 55 to 112 ka before present for the Talos Dome ice core based on high-resolution methane measurements

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1175-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schüpbach ◽  
U. Federer ◽  
M. Bigler ◽  
H. Fischer ◽  
T. F. Stocker
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Bottom Part ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. A precise synchronization of different climate records is indispensable for a correct dynamical interpretation of paleoclimatic data. A chronology for the TALDICE ice core from the Ross Sea sector of East Antarctica has recently been presented based on methane synchronization with Greenland and the EDC ice cores and δ18Oice synchronization with EDC in the bottom part (TALDICE-1). By the use of new high-resolution methane data, obtained with a continuous flow analysis technique, we present a refined age scale for the age interval from 55–112 ka before present where TALDICE is synchronized with EDC. New and more precise tie points reduce the uncertainties of the age scale from up to 2000 yr in TALDICE-1 to below 1000 yr over most of the refined interval. Thus, discussions of climate dynamics at sub-millennial time scales are now possible back to 110 ka, in particular during the inception of the last ice age. Calcium data of EDC and TALDICE are compared to show the impact of the refinement to the synchronization of the two ice cores not only for the gas but also for the ice age scale.

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