Dust and calcium record in calculated for ice core EPICA Dome C

Ice core data from Antarctica provide detailed insights into the characteristics of past climate, atmospheric circulation, as well as changes in the aerosol load of the atmosphere. We present high-resolution records of soluble calcium (Ca2+), non-sea-salt soluble calcium (nssCa2+), and particulate m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lambert, Fabrice, Bigler, Matthias, Steffensen, Jørgen Peder, Hutterli, Manuel A, Fischer, Hubertus
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2012
Subjects:
Dome C
Antarctica
EDC
EPICA
EPICA Dome C
European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica
ICEDRILL
Ice drill
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
Antarc*
ice core
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.779311
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.779311
Description
Summary:Ice core data from Antarctica provide detailed insights into the characteristics of past climate, atmospheric circulation, as well as changes in the aerosol load of the atmosphere. We present high-resolution records of soluble calcium (Ca2+), non-sea-salt soluble calcium (nssCa2+), and particulate mineral dust aerosol from the East Antarctic Plateau at a depth resolution of 1 cm, spanning the past 800 000 years. Despite the fact that all three parameters are largely dust-derived, the ratio of nssCa2+ to particulate dust is dependent on the particulate dust concentration itself. We used principal component analysis to extract the joint climatic signal and produce a common high-resolution record of dust flux. This new record is used to identify Antarctic warming events during the past eight glacial periods. The phasing of dust flux and CO2 changes during glacial-interglacial transitions reveals that iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean during the past nine glacial terminations was not the dominant factor in the deglacial rise of CO2 concentrations. Rapid changes in dust flux during glacial terminations and Antarctic warming events point to a rapid response of the southern westerly wind belt in the region of southern South American dust sources on changing climate conditions. The clear lead of these dust changes on temperature rise suggests that an atmospheric reorganization occurred in the Southern Hemisphere before the Southern Ocean warmed significantly.

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