Climatic, weather, and socio-economic conditions corresponding to the mid-17th-century eruption cluster ...

• Main Authors: Stoffel, Markus, Corona, Christophe, Ludlow, Francis, Sigl, Michael, Huhtamaa, Heli, Garnier, Emmanuel, Helama, Samuli, Guillet, Sébastien, Crampsie, Arlene, Kleemann, Katrin, Camenisch, Chantal, McConnell, Joseph, Gao, Chaochao
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2022
• Subjects: 570 Life sciences; biology; 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology; 530 Physics; 540 Chemistry; 550 Earth sciences & geology; 940 History of Europe; 950 History of Asia; Antarc*; Antarctica; Greenland; Greenland ice core; ice core
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/170175; https://boris.unibe.ch/170175/

The mid-17th century is characterized by a cluster of explosive volcanic eruptions in the 1630s and 1640s, climatic conditions culminating in the Maunder Minimum as well as political instability and famine in regions of Western and Northern Europe as well as China and Japan. This contribution investigates the sources of the eruptions of the 1630s and 1640s and their possible impact on contemporary climate using ice-core, tree-ring and historical evidence, but will also look into the socio-political context in which they occurred and the human responses they may have triggered. Three distinct sulfur peaks are found in the Greenland ice core record in 1637, 1641-42 and 1646. In Antarctica, only one unambiguous sulfate spike is recorded, peaking in 1642. The resulting bipolar sulfur peak in 1641-1642 can likely be ascribed to the eruption of Mount Parker (6°N, Philippines) on December 26, 1640, but sulfate emitted from Koma-ga-take (42°N, Japan) volcano on July 31, 1641, has potentially also contributed to the ...