An ikaite record of late Holocene climate at the Antarctic Peninsula

Calcium carbonate can crystallize in a hydrated form as ikaite at low temperatures. The hydration water in ikaite grown in laboratory experiments records the δ 18O of ambient water, a feature potentially useful for reconstructing δ 18O of local seawater. We report the first downcore δ 18O record of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Main Authors: Lu, Zunli, Rickaby, Rosalind E M, Kennedy, Hilary, Kennedy, Paul, Pancost, Richard D., Shaw, Samuel, Lennie, Alistair, Wellner, Julia, Anderson, John B.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Antarctic Peninsula
Holocene
Hydration water
Ikaite
Stable isotope
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Online Access:https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/cb39b79c-d8e9-436a-94d0-ca1a720413ea
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.036
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84862825866&partnerID=40&md5=d33d96999184a9c8e7a85046b4438f61
Description
Summary:Calcium carbonate can crystallize in a hydrated form as ikaite at low temperatures. The hydration water in ikaite grown in laboratory experiments records the δ 18O of ambient water, a feature potentially useful for reconstructing δ 18O of local seawater. We report the first downcore δ 18O record of natural ikaite hydration waters and crystals collected from the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), a region sensitive to climate fluctuations. We are able to establish the zone of ikaite formation within shallow sediments, based on porewater chemical and isotopic data. Having constrained the depth of ikaite formation and δ 18O of ikaite crystals and hydration waters, we are able to infer local changes in fjord δ 18O versus time during the late Holocene. This ikaite record qualitatively supports that both the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age extended to the Antarctic Peninsula. © 2012.

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