Fe²⁺ in ice cores as a new potential proxy to detect past volcanic eruptions
Volcanic eruptions are widely used in ice core science to date or synchronize ice cores. Volcanoes emit large amounts of SO₂ that is subsequently converted inthe atmosphere into sulfuric acid/sulphate.Its discrete and continuous quantification is currently used to determine the ice layers impacted b...
| Published in: | Science of The Total Environment |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://boris.unibe.ch/122003/1/burgaya18ste.pdf https://boris.unibe.ch/122003/ |
| Summary: | Volcanic eruptions are widely used in ice core science to date or synchronize ice cores. Volcanoes emit large amounts of SO₂ that is subsequently converted inthe atmosphere into sulfuric acid/sulphate.Its discrete and continuous quantification is currently used to determine the ice layers impacted by volcanic emissions, but available high-resolution sulphate quantification methods in ice core (Continuous Flow Analysis (CFA)) struggle with insufficient sensitivity. Here, we present a new high-resolution CFA chemiluminescence method for the continuous determination of Fe²⁺ species in ice cores thatshowsclear Fe²⁺ peaks concurrent with volcanicsulphate peaks in the ice core record. The method, applied on a Greenland ice core, correctly identifies all volcanic eruptions from between 1588 to 1611 and from 1777 to 1850. The method has a detection limit of ∽5pgg⁻¹ and a quadratic polynomial calibration range of up to at least 1760 pg g⁻¹. Our results show that Fe²⁺ is a suitable proxy for identifying past volcanic events. |
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