The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard

The largest sulphuric acid event revealed in an ice core from the Lomonosovfonna ice cap, Svalbard, is associated with the densest concentration of microparticles in the ice core at 66.99 m depth. Electron microscope analysis of a volcanic ash particle shows it has the same chemical composition as r...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Kekonen, Teija, Moore, John, Perämäki, Paavo, Martma, Tõnu
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251
id ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/2058
record_format openpolar
spelling ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/2058 2024-09-15T18:11:47+00:00 The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard Kekonen, Teija Moore, John Perämäki, Paavo Martma, Tõnu 2005-07-01 application/pdf https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251 eng eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058/5309 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058 doi:10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251 Polar Research; Vol 24, No 1-2 (2005); 33-40 1751-8369 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2005 ftjpolarres https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251 2024-06-28T03:10:15Z The largest sulphuric acid event revealed in an ice core from the Lomonosovfonna ice cap, Svalbard, is associated with the densest concentration of microparticles in the ice core at 66.99 m depth. Electron microscope analysis of a volcanic ash particle shows it has the same chemical composition as reported for debris from the eruption of Iceland’s Laki fissure in 1783 and confirms the identification of the tephra. Most of the particles in the deposit are not ash, but are common sand particles carried aloft during the eruption event and deposited relatively nearby and downwind of the long-lasting eruption. The tephra layer was found 10 - 20 cm deeper than high sulphate concentrations, so it can be inferred that tephra arrived to Lomonosovfonna about 6 - 12 months earlier than gaseous sulphuric acid precipitation. The sulphuric acid spike has a significant cooling impact recorded in the oxygen isotope profile from the core, which corresponds to a sudden drop in temperature of about 2 °C which took several years to recover to previous levels. These data are the first particle analyses of Laki tephra from Svalbard and confirm the identification of the large acidic signal seen in other ice cores from the region. They also confirm the very large impact that this Icelandic eruption, specifically the sulphuric acid rather than ash, had on regional temperatures. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap ice core Polar Research Svalbard Polar Research Polar Research 24 1-2 33 40
institution Open Polar
collection Polar Research
op_collection_id ftjpolarres
language English
description The largest sulphuric acid event revealed in an ice core from the Lomonosovfonna ice cap, Svalbard, is associated with the densest concentration of microparticles in the ice core at 66.99 m depth. Electron microscope analysis of a volcanic ash particle shows it has the same chemical composition as reported for debris from the eruption of Iceland’s Laki fissure in 1783 and confirms the identification of the tephra. Most of the particles in the deposit are not ash, but are common sand particles carried aloft during the eruption event and deposited relatively nearby and downwind of the long-lasting eruption. The tephra layer was found 10 - 20 cm deeper than high sulphate concentrations, so it can be inferred that tephra arrived to Lomonosovfonna about 6 - 12 months earlier than gaseous sulphuric acid precipitation. The sulphuric acid spike has a significant cooling impact recorded in the oxygen isotope profile from the core, which corresponds to a sudden drop in temperature of about 2 °C which took several years to recover to previous levels. These data are the first particle analyses of Laki tephra from Svalbard and confirm the identification of the large acidic signal seen in other ice cores from the region. They also confirm the very large impact that this Icelandic eruption, specifically the sulphuric acid rather than ash, had on regional temperatures.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Kekonen, Teija
Moore, John
Perämäki, Paavo
Martma, Tõnu
spellingShingle Kekonen, Teija
Moore, John
Perämäki, Paavo
Martma, Tõnu
The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard
author_facet Kekonen, Teija
Moore, John
Perämäki, Paavo
Martma, Tõnu
author_sort Kekonen, Teija
title The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard
title_short The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard
title_full The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard
title_fullStr The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard
title_full_unstemmed The Icelandic Laki volcanic tephra layer in the Lomonosovfonna ice core, Svalbard
title_sort icelandic laki volcanic tephra layer in the lomonosovfonna ice core, svalbard
publisher Norwegian Polar Institute
publishDate 2005
url https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251
genre Ice cap
ice core
Polar Research
Svalbard
genre_facet Ice cap
ice core
Polar Research
Svalbard
op_source Polar Research; Vol 24, No 1-2 (2005); 33-40
1751-8369
op_relation https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058/5309
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2058
doi:10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v24i1.6251
container_title Polar Research
container_volume 24
container_issue 1-2
container_start_page 33
op_container_end_page 40
_version_ 1810449356509151232