Open AccessA 12,000 year record of explosive volcanism in the Siple Dome Ice Core, West Antarctica
Author(s) -
Kurbatov A. V.,
Zielinski G. A.,
Dunbar N. W.,
Mayewski P. A.,
Meyerson E. A.,
Sneed S. B.,
Taylor K. C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2005jd006072
Subject(s) - geology , volcano , ice core , stratovolcano , volcanism , tephra , dome (geology) , explosive eruption , southern hemisphere , antarctic ice sheet , earth science , geochemistry , lava , cryosphere , geomorphology , magma , paleontology , tectonics , oceanography , climatology , sea ice
Air mass trajectories in the Southern Hemisphere provide a mechanism for transport to and deposition of volcanic products on the Antarctic ice sheet from local volcanoes and from tropical and subtropical volcanic centers. This study extends the detailed record of Antarctic, South American, and equatorial volcanism over the last 12,000 years using continuous glaciochemical series developed from the Siple Dome A (SDMA) ice core, West Antarctica. The largest volcanic sulfate spike (280 μg/L) occurs at 5881 B.C.E. Other large signals with unknown sources are observed around 325 B.C.E. (270 μg/L) and 2818 B.C.E. (191 μg/L). Ages of several large equatorial or Southern Hemisphere volcanic eruptions are synchronous with many sulfate peaks detected in the SDMA volcanic ice chemistry record. The microprobe “fingerprinting” of glass shards in the SDMA core points to the following Antarctic volcanic centers as sources of tephra found in the SDMA core: Balenny Island, Pleiades, Mount Berlin, Mount Takahe, and Mount Melbourne as well as Mount Hudson and possibly Mount Burney volcanoes of South America. Identified volcanic sources provide an insight into the poorly resolved transport history of volcanic products from source volcanoes to the West Antarctic ice sheet.