Geographic provenance of aeolian dust in East Antarctica during Pleistocene glaciations: preliminary results from Talos Dome and comparison with East Antarctic and new Andean ice core data

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Delmonte, B., Andersson, P.S., Schöberg, H., Hansson, M., Petit, J.R., Delmas, Robert, Gaiero, D.M., Maggi, V., Frezzotti, M.
• Other Authors: Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e del Territorio (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milan (UNIMI), Laboratory for Isotope Geology, Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM), Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, CLIPS, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CIGeS, FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Argentina, Italian National agency for new technologies, Energy and sustainable economic development Frascati (ENEA), Swedish Museum of Natural History and was supported by SYNTHESYS funding (project SE-TAF-4807) made available by the European Community - Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 ''Structuring the European Research Area'' Programme, EPICA, TALDICE
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarctic; East Antarctica; Patagonia; Talos Dome; The Altiplano; Antarc*; Antarctica; EPICA; ice core
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00420408; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.05.010

International audience The strontium and neodymium isotopic signature of aeolian mineral particles archived in polar ice cores provides constraints on the geographic provenance of dust and paleo-atmospheric circulation patterns. Data from different ice cores drilled in the centre of the East Antarctic plateau such as EPICA-Dome C (EDC, 75 060S; 123 210E) and Vostok (78 280S, 106 480E) suggested a uniform geographic provenance for dust during Pleistocene glacial ages, likely from southern South America (SSA). In this work the existing dust isotopic data from EDC have been integrated with new data from Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 14 (about 536 ka before 1950AD) and in parallel some first results are shown for the new TALDICE ice core which was drilled on the edge of the East Antarctic Plateau (Talos Dome, 72 480S, 159 060E) on the opposite side with respect to SSA. Interestingly, the isotopic composition of TALDICE glacial dust is remarkably similar to that obtained from glacial dust from sites located in the East Antarctic interior. Overall, the glacial dust isotopic field obtained from six East Antarctic ice cores matches well South American data obtained from target areas. In this respect, it was recently suggested that dust exported long-range from South America originates from Patagonia and from the Puna-Altiplano plateau. To test this hypothesis, we analysed the isotopic composition of dust from an ice core drilled on the Illimani glacier (Bolivia, 16 370S, 67 460W; 6350 m a.s.l.) in order to obtain information on the isotopic composition of regional mineral aerosol uplifted from the Altiplano area and likely transported over a long distance. Altogether, ice core and source data strongly suggest that the westerly circulation pattern allowed efficient transfer of dust from South America to the East Antarctic plateau under cold Quaternary climates. Isotopic data support the hypothesis of a possible mixing of dust from Patagonia and from the Puna-Altiplano plateau. Interestingly, high glacial dust inputs to ...