Atmospheric sulfur isotopic anomalies recorded at Mt. Everest across the Anthropocene

Significance Signatures of sulfur isotopic anomalies (a proxy used in tracking the atmospheric oxygen/sulfur cycles in the past) preserved in the Himalayas (“Asian water towers”) reveal significant changes in the regional atmospheric sulfur cycle and glacial hydrological system during the second industrial revolution. The record extends our atmospheric sulfur isotopic anomaly observation to a unique region and different time and transitional period. Distinct from most existing aerosol measurements made in the twenty-first century, the 200-y record mimics the Archean (4–2.5 billion years ago) barite record and may provide a broader view of the mechanistic origin of sulfur isotopic anomalies in the modern atmosphere and another tool to deepen insights into the Earth’s sulfur cycle during the evolution of early life.