Multiple sources for tephra from AD 1259 volcanic signal in Antarctic ice cores

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Narcisi, Biancamaria, Petit, Jean Robert, Delmonte, Barbara, Batanova, Valentina, Savarino, Joel
• Other Authors: Italian National agency for new technologies, Energy and sustainable economic development Frascati (ENEA), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), 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 Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ), Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e del Territorio (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milan (UNIMI), Institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTerre), Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR219-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ), Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 )
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02350371; https://hal.science/hal-02350371/document; https://hal.science/hal-02350371/file/Narcisi%20et%20al_QSR%20paper%20for%20review_JQSR_2019_21_Original_V0.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.005

International audience Strong volcanic signals simultaneously recorded in polar ice sheets are commonly assigned to major low-latitude eruptions that dispersed large quantities of aerosols in the global atmosphere with the potential of inducing climate perturbations. Parent eruptions responsible for specific events are typically deduced from matching to a known volcanic eruption having coincidental date. However, more robust source linkage can be achieved only through geochemical characterisation of the airborne volcanic glass products (tephra) sometimes preserved in the polar strata. We analysed fine-grained tephra particles extracted from layers of the AD 1259 major bipolar volcanic signal in four East Antarctic ice cores drilled in different widely-spaced locations of the Plateau. The very large database of glassshard geochemistry combined with grain size analyses consistently indicate that the material was sourced from multiple distinct eruptions. These are the AD 1257 mega-eruption of Samalas volcano in Indonesia, recently proposed to be the single event responsible for the polar signal, as well as a newly-identified Antarctic eruption occurred in AD 1259. Finally, a further eruption that took place somewhere outside Antarctica has contributed to tephra deposition. Our high-resolution, multiple-site approach was critical to reveal spatial heterogeneity of tephra at the continental scale. Evidence from ice-core tephra indicates recurrent explosive activity at the Antarctic volcanoes and could have implications for improved reconstruction of post-volcanic effects on climate from proxy polar records.