A major glacial-interglacial change in aeolian dust composition inferred from Rare Earth Elements in Antarctic ice

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Gabrielli, Paolo, Wegner, Anna, Petit, Jean Robert, Delmonte, Barbara, De Deckker, Patrick, Gaspari, Vania, Fischer, Hubertus, Ruth, Urs, Kriews, Michael, Boutron, Claude, Cescon, Paolo, Barbante, Carlo
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes-CNR, University of Ca’ Foscari Venice, Italy, School of Earth Sciences and Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University Columbus (OSU), Department of Bentho-pelagic processes, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), CLIPS, Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e del Territorio (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano Milano (UNIMI), Research School of Earth Sciences Canberra (RSES), Australian National University (ANU), Physics Institute Bern, University of Bern, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR), Department of Environmental Sciences, Consorzio per l'Attuazione del Programma Nazionale delle Ricerche in Antartide, under projects on Environmental Contamination and Glaciology; Institut Universitaire de France, the Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers and the Université Joseph Fourier of Grenoble; contribution number 1387 of the Byrd Polar Research Center, European Project: 39423,FP6-SUSTDEV,EPICA-MIS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarctic; East Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctica; EPICA; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00420771; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.09.002

International audience We present the first Rare Earth Elements (REE) concentration record determined in 294 sections of an Antarctic ice core (EPICA Dome C), covering a period from 2.9 to 33.7 kyr BP. REE allow a detailed quantitative evaluation of aeolian dust composition because of the large number of variables (i.e. 14 elements). REE concentrations match the particulate dust concentration profile over this period and show a homogeneous crustal-like composition during the last glacial stage (LGS), with only a slight enrichment in medium REE. This signature is consistent with the persistent fallout of a mixture of dust from heterogeneous sources located in different areas or within the same region (e.g. South America). Starting at not, vert, similar15 kyr BP, there was a major change in dust composition, the variable character of which persisted throughout the Holocene. This varying signature may highlight the alternation of single dust contributions from different sources during the Holocene. We observe that the frequent changes in REE composition at the onset of the Holocene (10-13.5 kyr BP) are linked to dust size and in turn to wind strength and/or the path of the atmospheric trajectory. This may indicate that atmospheric circulation dictated the composition of the dust fallout to East Antarctica at that time. Although the dust concentrations remained fairly low, a notable return towards more glacial dust characteristics is recorded between 7.5 and 8.3 kyr BP. This happened concomitantly with a widespread cold event around 8 kyr BP that was 400-600 years long and suggests a moderate reactivation of the dust emission from the same potential source areas of the LGS.