An 800‐year ultraviolet radiation record inferred from sedimentary pigments in the Ross Sea area, East Antarctica

High performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC ) combined with mass spectrometry ( MS ) was used to analyse deposited pigments (including chlorophyll a , phaeophytin a , canthaxanthin, echinenone, zeaxanthin, scytonemin and mycosporine‐like amino acids) from two sediment profiles of ponds in the Ross...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Boreas
Main Authors: Chen, Qianqian, Nie, Yaguang, Liu, Xiaodong, Xu, Liqiang, Emslie, Steven D.
Other Authors: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation & Assessment Programme, National Science Foundation, USA
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
East Antarctica
Ross Sea
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bor.12130
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fbor.12130
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/bor.12130
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Summary:High performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC ) combined with mass spectrometry ( MS ) was used to analyse deposited pigments (including chlorophyll a , phaeophytin a , canthaxanthin, echinenone, zeaxanthin, scytonemin and mycosporine‐like amino acids) from two sediment profiles of ponds in the Ross Sea area, East Antarctica. We explored the sources and characteristics of each pigment, reconstructed an 800‐year record of ultraviolet radiation ( UVR ) and total incoming light intensity, and identified the possible factors that may have influenced historical UVR changes in this region. The results indicated at least four UVR peaks during the past 800 years, corresponding to c . AD 1950–2000, 1720–1790, 1560–1630 and 1350–1480, with the intensity from the most recent sediments being the highest. A comparison between the changes in UVR and total incoming light intensity showed similar patterns between AD 1720 and 1830, suggesting that factors controlling the UVR intensity in the Ross Sea area may be related to insolation fluctuation at that time. The two proxies are, however, weakly correlated during other periods. Historically, there is a relationship between the reconstructed UVR and solar activity, but this natural process may be strongly affected by multiple factors, including climate parameter change and anthropogenic activities during the modern times.

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