scholarly journals Volcanic stratospheric sulfur injections and aerosol optical depth during the Holocene (past 11,500 years) from a bipolar ice core array

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sigl ◽  
Matthew Toohey ◽  
Joseph R. McConnell ◽  
Jihong Cole-Dai ◽  
Mirko Severi
Keyword(s):  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Generation

Abstract. The injection of sulfur into the stratosphere by volcanic eruptions is the dominant driver of natural climate variability on interannual-to-multidecadal timescales. Based on a set of continuous sulfate and sulfur records from a suite of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, the HolVol v.1.0 database includes estimates of the magnitudes and approximate source latitudes of major volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection (VSSI) events for the Holocene (from 9500 BCE or 11500 year BP to 1900 CE), constituting an extension of the previous record by 7000 years. The database incorporates new-generation ice-core aerosol records with sub-annual temporal resolution and demonstrated sub-decadal dating accuracy and precision. By tightly aligning and stacking the ice-core records on the WD2014 chronology from Antarctica we resolve long-standing previous inconsistencies in the dating of ancient volcanic eruptions that arise from biased (i.e. dated too old) ice-core chronologies over the Holocene for Greenland. We reconstruct a total of 850 volcanic eruptions with injections in excess of 1 TgS, of which 329 (39 %) are located in the low latitudes with bipolar sulfate deposition, 426 (50 %) are located in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropics and 88 (10 %) are located in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) extratropics. The spatial distribution of reconstructed eruption locations is in agreement with prior reconstructions for the past 2,500 years, and follows the global distribution of landmasses. In total, these eruptions injected 7410 TgS in the stratosphere, for which tropical eruptions accounted for 70 % and NH extratropics for 25 %. A long-term latitudinally and monthly resolved stratospheric aerosol optical depth (SAOD) time series is reconstructed from the HolVol VSSI estimates, representing the first Holocene-scale reconstruction constrained by Greenland and Antarctica ice cores. These new long-term reconstructions of past VSSI and SAOD variability confirm evidence from regional volcanic eruption chronologies (e.g., from Iceland) in showing that the early Holocene (9500–7000 BCE) experienced a higher number of volcanic eruptions (+16 %) and cumulative VSSI (+86 %) compared to the past 2,500 years. This increase coincides with the rapid retreat of ice sheets during deglaciation, providing context for potential future increases of volcanic activity in regions under projected glacier melting in the 21st century. The reconstructed VSSI and SAOD data are available at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.928646 (Sigl et al., 2021).

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 Volcanic stratospheric sulfur injections and aerosol optical depth from 500 BCE to 1900 CE

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 809-831 ◽  
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 sulfur into the stratosphere by explosive volcanic eruptions is the cause of significant climate variability. Based on sulfate 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 sulfur 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 database incorporates improvements to the ice core records (in terms of synchronisation and dating) and refinements to the methods used to estimate VSSI from ice core records, and it 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–1900 CE) average global mean SAOD estimated from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates including a constant background injection of stratospheric sulfur 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 Sensitivity of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> and climate to explosive volcanic eruptions

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 2317-2339 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. Frölicher ◽  
F. Joos ◽  
C. C. Raible
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Aerosol Optical Depth ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Explosive Volcanic Eruptions

Abstract. Impacts of low-latitude, explosive volcanic eruptions on climate and the carbon cycle are quantified by forcing a comprehensive, fully coupled carbon cycle-climate model with pulse-like stratospheric aerosol optical depth changes. The model represents the radiative and dynamical response of the climate system to volcanic eruptions and simulates a decrease of global and regional atmospheric surface temperature, regionally distinct changes in precipitation, a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, and a decrease in atmospheric CO2 after volcanic eruptions. The volcanic-induced cooling reduces overturning rates in tropical soils, which dominates over reduced litter input due to soil moisture decrease, resulting in higher land carbon inventories for several decades. The perturbation in the ocean carbon inventory changes sign from an initial weak carbon sink to a carbon source. Positive carbon and negative temperature anomalies in subsurface waters last up to several decades. The multi-decadal decrease in atmospheric CO2 yields a small additional radiative forcing that amplifies the cooling and perturbs the Earth System on longer time scales than the atmospheric residence time of volcanic aerosols. In addition, century-scale global warming simulations with and without volcanic eruptions over the historical period show that the ocean integrates volcanic radiative cooling and responds for different physical and biogeochemical parameters such as steric sea level or dissolved oxygen. Results from a suite of sensitivity simulations with different magnitudes of stratospheric aerosol optical depth changes and from global warming simulations show that the carbon cycle-climate sensitivity γ, expressed as change in atmospheric CO2 per unit change in global mean surface temperature, depends on the magnitude and temporal evolution of the perturbation, and time scale of interest. On decadal time scales, modeled γ is several times larger for a Pinatubo-like eruption than for the industrial period and for a high emission, 21st century scenario.

scholarly journals The Influence On Atmospheric Composition of Volcanic Eruptions as Derived From Ice-Core Analysis

1985 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 125-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.U. Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Core Analysis ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
The Past ◽  
Polar Ice Sheets

Polar ice cores offer datable past snow deposits in the form of annual ice layers, which reflect the past atmospheric composition. Trace substances in the cores are related to the past mid-tropospheric impurity load, this being due to the vast extent of the polar ice sheets (or ice caps), their surface elevations and remoteness from most aerosol sources. Volcanic eruptions add to the rather low background impurity load via their eruptive products. This paper concentrates on the widespread influence on atmospheric impurity loads caused by the acid gas products from volcanic eruptions. In particular the following subjects are discussed: acid volcanic signals in ice cores, latitude of eruptions as derived by ice-core analysis, inter-hemispheric dating of the two polar ice sheets by equatorial eruptions, volcanic deposits in ice cores during the last glacial period and climatic implications.

The past 5000 years history of solar modulation of cosmic radiation from 10 Be and 14 C studies

1990 ◽  
Vol 330 (1615) ◽  
pp. 471-480 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cosmic Radiation ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Solar Modulation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Terrestrial Biomass

10 Be is produced in a similar way as 14 C by the interaction of cosmic radiation with the nuclei in the atmosphere. Assuming that the 10 Be and 14 C variation are proportional and considering the different behaviour in the Earth system, the 10 Be concentrations in ice cores can be compared with the 14 C variations in tree rings. A high correlation is found for the short-term variations ( 14 C-Suess-wiggles). They reflect with a high probability production rate variations. More problematic is the interpretation of the long-term trends of 14 C and 10 Be. Several explanations are discussed. The reconstructed CO 2 concentrations in ice cores indicate a rather constant value (280 ± 10 p.p.m. by volume) during the past few millenia. Measurements on the ice core from Byrd Station, Antarctica, during the period 9000 to 6000 years BP indicate a decrease that might be explained by the extraction of CO 2 from the atmosphere-ocean system to build the terrestrial biomass pool during the climatic optimum.

scholarly journals The Influence On Atmospheric Composition of Volcanic Eruptions as Derived From Ice-Core Analysis

1985 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 125-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.U. Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Core Analysis ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
The Past ◽  
Polar Ice Sheets

Polar ice cores offer datable past snow deposits in the form of annual ice layers, which reflect the past atmospheric composition. Trace substances in the cores are related to the past mid-tropospheric impurity load, this being due to the vast extent of the polar ice sheets (or ice caps), their surface elevations and remoteness from most aerosol sources. Volcanic eruptions add to the rather low background impurity load via their eruptive products. This paper concentrates on the widespread influence on atmospheric impurity loads caused by the acid gas products from volcanic eruptions. In particular the following subjects are discussed: acid volcanic signals in ice cores, latitude of eruptions as derived by ice-core analysis, inter-hemispheric dating of the two polar ice sheets by equatorial eruptions, volcanic deposits in ice cores during the last glacial period and climatic implications.

scholarly journals NEEM to EastGRIP Traverse – spatial variability, seasonality, extreme events and trends in common ice core proxies over the past decades

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helle Astrid Kjær ◽  
Patrick Zens ◽  
Samuel Black ◽  
Kasper Holst Lund ◽  
Anders Svensson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Anthropogenic Contamination ◽  
The Past

Abstract. Greenland ice cores provide information about past climate. However, the number of firn and ice cores from Greenland are limited and thus the spatial variability of the chemical impurities used as proxies is largely unconstrained. Furthermore, few impurity records covering the past two decades exist from Greenland. We have by means of Continuous Flow analysis investigated 6 shallow firn cores obtained in Northern Greenland as part of the NEEM to EastGRIP traverse in 2015. The oldest reach back to 1966. The annual mean and quartiles of the insoluble dust, ammonium, and calcium concentrations in the 6 firn cores spanning a distance of 426 km overlap, and also the seasonal cycles have similar peaks in timing and magnitude across sites. Peroxide (H2O2) is accumulation dependent and varies from site to site and conductivity, likely influenced by sea salts, also vary spatially. The temporal variability of the records is further assessed. We find no evidence for increases in total dust concentration, but find an increase in the large dust particle fluxes that we contribute to an activation of Greenland local sources in the recent years (1998–2015). We observe the expected acid and conductivity increase in the mid 70’s as a result of anthropogenic contamination and the following decrease due to mitigation. After detrending using the five year average the conductivity and acid records several volcanic horizons were identified and associated with Icelandic eruptions and volcanic eruptions in the Barents sea region. By creating a composite based on excess ammonium compared to the five year running average, we obtain a robust forest fire proxy associated primarily with Canadian forest fires (R = 0.51). We also note that the peak ammonium in the individual firn cores appear more scattered between cores than the peak volcanic layers, suggesting that the forest fire signal is more dispersed in the atmosphere than the acid from volcanic eruptions.

scholarly journals Differing pre-industrial cooling trends between tree-rings and lower-resolution temperature proxies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Klippel ◽  
Scott St. George ◽  
Ulf Büntgen ◽  
Paul J. Krusic ◽  
Jan Esper
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Proxy Records ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Cooling Trend

Abstract. The 692 proxy records of the new PAGES 2k compilation offer an unprecedented opportunity to study regional to global temperature trends associated with orbitally-driven changes in solar irradiance over the past two millennia. Here, we analyse the significance of long-term trends from 1–1800 CE in the PAGES 2k compilation’s tree-ring, ice core, marine and lake sediment records and find, unlike ice-cores, glacier dynamics, marine and lake sediments, no suggestion of a pre-industrial cooling trend in the tree-ring records. To understand why the tree-ring proxies lack a significant pre-industrial cooling, we divide the dendro data by location (high NH latitudes vs. mid latitudes), seasonal response (annual vs. summer), detrending method, and temperature sensitivity (high vs. low). We conclude the ability to detect any pre-industrial, millennial-long cooling in the tree-ring proxies does not increase with latitude, seasonal sensitivity, or detrending method. Consequently, caution is advised when using multi-proxy approaches to reconstruct long-term temperature changes.

Oxygen-to-nitrogen ratios in 1.5-million-year-old ice cores from Allan Hills Blue Ice Areas: implications for the long-term atmospheric oxygen concentrations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzhen Yan ◽  
Michael Bender ◽  
Edward Brook ◽  
Heather Clifford ◽  
Preston Kemeny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gas Trapping ◽  
Rate Of Decline ◽  
Gas Loss ◽  
Oxygen Concentrations

&lt;p&gt;Gases preserved in ice cores provide a potential direct archive for atmospheric oxygen. Yet, oxygen-to-nitrogen ratios in ice cores (expressed as &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) are modified by a number of processes related to gas trapping and gas losses in the ice. Such complications have long hindered the use of ice core &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; to derive true atmospheric oxygen concentrations. Recently, a persistent decline in &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, observed in four different ice cores (GISP2, Vostok, Dome F, and EDC), is interpreted to reflect decreasing atmospheric O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; concentrations over the late Pleistocene (Stolper et al., 2016). The rate of &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; change is -8.4&amp;#177;0.2 &amp;#8240;/Myr (1&amp;#963;). Using new measurements made on EDC samples stored at -50 &amp;#176;C and therefore free from gas loss, Extier et al (2018) confirms the decrease in &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; with a slope of -7.0&amp;#177;0.6&amp;#8240;/Myr (1&amp;#963;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here, we present new &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; measurements made on 1.5-million-year-old blue ice cores from Allan Hills Blue Ice Areas, East Antarctica. We use argon-to-nitrogen ratios (&amp;#948;Ar/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) in the ice to correct for the fractionations during bubble close-off and gas losses. In those processes, &amp;#948;Ar/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; is fractionated in a fashion similar to &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; (Huber et al., 2006; Severinghaus and Battle, 2006). Paired &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-&amp;#948;Ar/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; values measured from the same sample were classified into three different time slices: 1.5 Ma (million years old), 950 ka, and 490 ka. Between 950 ka and 490 ka, we observe a decline in &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; similar to that observed in the aforementioned deep ice cores. This observation gives us confidence in the validity of the Allan Hills blue ice &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; records. Between 1.5 Ma and 950 ka, however, there is no statistically significant trend in ice core &amp;#948;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;. Our results show a surprising lack of variability from 1.5 to 0.95 Ma; even during the past ~0.9 Ma, the rate of decline was very slow.&lt;/p&gt;

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