Premium
Dust Transport to the Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, During the Last Interglacial
Author(s) -
Aarons S. M.,
Aciego S. M.,
McConnell J. R.,
Delmonte B.,
Baccolo G.
Publication year - 2019
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 - 10.1029/2018gl081887
Subject(s) - interglacial , ice core , geology , glacier , glacial period , volcano , oceanography , marine isotope stage , deglaciation , mineral dust , ice age , holocene , physical geography , climatology , earth science , geomorphology , paleontology , aerosol , geography , meteorology
Abstract Changes in the composition of dust trapped in ice provide evidence of past atmospheric circulation and earth surface conditions. Investigations of dust provenance in Antarctic ice during glacial and interglacial periods indicate that South America is the primary dust source during both climate regimes. Here, we present results from a new ice core dust archive extracted from the Taylor Glacier in coastal East Antarctica during the deglacial transition from Marine Isotope Stage 6 to 5e. Radiogenic strontium and neodymium isotopes indicate that last interglacial dust is young and volcanic, in contrast to the observed preindustrial and Holocene (Marine Isotope Stage 1) dust composition. The dust composition differences from the last interglacial and current interglacial period at the site require a profound difference in atmospheric transport and environmental conditions. We consider several potential causes for enhanced transport of volcanic material to the site, including increased availability of volcanic material and large‐scale atmospheric circulation changes.