Deuterium isotope ratios of Victoria Lower Glacier Ice Core, supplement to: Bertler, Nancy A; Mayewski, Paul Andrew; Carter, Lionel (2011): Cold conditions in Antarctica during the Little Ice Age — Implications for abrupt climate change mechanisms. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 308(1-2), 41-51

• Main Authors: Bertler, Nancy A, Mayewski, Paul Andrew, Carter, Lionel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2011
• Subjects: Ice drill; Southern Ocean; Ross Sea; McMurdo Dry Valleys; Victoria Lower Glacier; Antarc*; Antarctica; Dansgaard-Oeschger events; ice core; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.866368; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.866368

The Little Ice Age (LIA) is one of the most prominent climate shifts in the past 5000 yrs. It has been suggested that the LIA might be the most recent of the Dansgaard-Oeschger events, which are better known as abrupt, large scale climate oscillations during the last glacial period. If the case, then according to Broecker (2000a, 2000b) Antarctica should have warmed during the LIA, when the Northern Hemisphere was cold. Here we present new data from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, that indicates surface temperatures were ~2 °C colder during the LIA, with colder sea surface temperatures in the Southern Ocean and/or increased sea-ice extent, stronger katabatic winds, and decreased snow accumulation. Whilst we find there was large spatial and temporal variability, overall Antarctica was cooler and stormier during the LIA. Although temperatures have warmed since the termination of the LIA, atmospheric circulation strength has remained at the same, elevated level. We conclude, that the LIA was either caused by alternative forcings, or that the sea-saw mechanism operates differently during warm periods. : A 180m deep ice core was drilled at the local ice divide of Victoria Lower Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. This record here represents the top 50m of the core, capturing the time from 1140-2000 AD. The record has been dated using volcanic signatures in SO4 concentrations.