Characteristics and Possible Source of a 1479 A.D. Volcanic Ash Layer in a Greenland Ice Core
Abstract A microparticle concentration peak in a GISP2 ice core contains volcanic glass shards of rhyolitic composition that correspond in age to the 1479-1480 A.D. Mt. St. Helens Wn eruption. These glass shards are compositionally similar to the Wn tephra and constitute 83% of the total particle po...
Published in: | Quaternary Research |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1993
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/qres.1993.1033 http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589483710331?httpAccept=text/xml http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589483710331?httpAccept=text/plain https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400034426 |
Summary: | Abstract A microparticle concentration peak in a GISP2 ice core contains volcanic glass shards of rhyolitic composition that correspond in age to the 1479-1480 A.D. Mt. St. Helens Wn eruption. These glass shards are compositionally similar to the Wn tephra and constitute 83% of the total particle population. The shards are very coarse-grained (up to 40 μm diameter), suggesting rapid transport from their source to Greenland. A major sulfate peak in the ice occurs approximately 4 months after deposition of the glass shards. This difference in depositional timing suggests primarily tropospheric transport of the ash and stratospheric transport of the sulfate aerosol. Large-scale climatic perturbations following this eruption were evidently negligible. Glaciochemical seasonal indicators suggest a late-fall to early-winter 1479 A.D. eruption. |
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