Dust: A Diagnostic of the Hydrologic Cycle During the Last Glacial Maximum

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Yung, Yuk L., Lee, Typhoon, Wang, Chung-Ho, Shieh, Ying-Tzung
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1996
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; Antarc*; Antarctica; Greenland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.271.5251.962; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.271.5251.962

Dust concentrations in ice of the last glacial maximum (LGM) are high in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The magnitude of the enhancements can be explained if the strength of the hydrologic cycle during the LGM was about half of that at present. This notion is consistent with a large decrease (5°C) in ocean temperature during the LGM, as recently deduced from measurements of strontium and calcium in corals.