Changes in environment over the last 800,000 years from chemical analysis of the EPICA Dome C ice core

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Wolff, E. W., Barbante, C., Becagli, S., Bigler, M., Boutron, C. F., Castellano, E., de Angelis, M., Federer, U., Fischer, H., Fundel, F., Hansson, M., Hutterli, M., Jonsell, U., Karlin, T., Kaufmann, P., Lambert, F., Littot, G. C., Mulvaney, R., Röthlisberger, R., Ruth, U., Severi, M., Siggaard-Andersen, M. L., Sime, L. C., Steffensen, J. P., Stocker, T. F., Traversi, R., Twarloh, B., Udisti, R., Wagenbach, D., Wegner, A.
• Other Authors: British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes-CNR, Department of Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca = University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB), Department of Chemistry, Centre for Ice and Climate Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen (NBI), Faculty of Science Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-Faculty of Science Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), CHANG (CHANG), Laboratoire d'étude des transferts en hydrologie et environnement (LTHE), 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)-Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-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)-Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), 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), Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Climate and Environmental Physics Bern (CEP), Physikalisches Institut Bern, Universität Bern Bern (UNIBE)-Universität Bern Bern (UNIBE), Abteilung Klinische Sozialmedizin, Berufs- und Umweltdermatologie, Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg, Institut für Umweltphysik Heidelberg, Department of Bentho-pelagic processes, European Project: 39423,FP6-SUSTDEV,EPICA-MIS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; EPICA; ice core; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00562240; https://doi.org/10.1016/J.QUASCIREV.2009.06.013

International audience The EPICA ice core from Dome C extends 3259 m in depth, and encompasses 800 ka of datable and sequential ice. Numerous chemical species have been measured along the length of the cores. Here we concentrate on interpreting the main low-resolution patterns of major ions. We extend the published record for non-sea-salt calcium, sea-salt sodium and non-sea-salt sulfate flux to 800 ka. The non-sea-salt calcium record confirms that terrestrial dust originating from South America closely mirrored Antarctic climate, both at orbital and millennial timescales. A major cause of the main trends is most likely climate in southern South America, which could be sensitive to subtle changes in atmospheric circulation. Sea-salt sodium also follows temperature, but with a threshold at low temperature. We re-examine the use of sodium as a sea ice proxy, concluding that it is probably reflecting extent, with high salt concentrations reflecting larger ice extents. With this interpretation, the sodium flux record indicates low ice extent operating as an amplifier in warm interglacials. Non-sea-salt sulfate flux is almost constant along the core, confirming the lack of change in marine productivity (for sulfur-producing organisms) in the areas of the Southern Ocean contributing to the flux at Dome C. For the first time we also present long records of reversible species such as nitrate and chloride, and show that the pattern of post-depositional losses described for shallower ice is maintained in older ice. It appears possible to use these concentrations to constrain snow accumulation rates in interglacial ice at this site, and the results suggest a possible correction to accumulation rates in one early interglacial. Taken together the chemistry records offer a number of constraints on the way the Earth system combined to give the major climate fluctuations of the late Quaternary period.