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Dust provenance in Antarctic ice during glacial periods: From where in southern South America?
Author(s) -
Gaiero Diego M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl030520
Subject(s) - provenance , aeolian processes , geology , loess , glacial period , quaternary , oceanography , ice core , sediment , paleoclimatology , glacier , deposition (geology) , last glacial maximum , plateau (mathematics) , physical geography , holocene , climate change , geochemistry , geomorphology , paleontology , geography , mathematical analysis , mathematics
The origin of dust deposited in East Antarctica is not fully understood yet. This study demonstrates that, contrary to Nd, Sr isotopes are strongly fractionated in the finest‐sized material representing potential dust sources in South America. Analysis of Nd isotopes suggests that Argentine loess, Southern Ocean sediments and Antarctic dust, may all have a related origin or can represent comparable mechanisms of eolian sediment transport and deposition. This analysis also concludes that the Patagonian signature can explain a high proportion of the isotopic composition of dust trapped in Antarctic ice during glacial periods. The Puna‐Altiplano plateau emerges as the second possible important sediment contributor explaining the crustal‐like signature found in East Antarctic dust and should be considered as a potential source area when Quaternary paleoclimate is reconstructed from Argentine loess, Antarctic dust and South Atlantic sediment records.