Abstract

A large volcanic sulfate increase observed in ice core records around 1450 C.E. has been attributed in previous studies to a volcanic eruption from the submarine Kuwae caldera in Vanuatu. Both EPMA–WDS (electron microprobe analysis using a wavelength dispersive spectrometer) and SEM–EDS (scanning electron microscopy analysis using an energy dispersive spectrometer) analyses of five microscopic volcanic ash (cryptotephra) particles extracted from the ice interval associated with a rise in sulfate ca. 1458 C.E. in the South Pole ice core (SPICEcore) indicate that the tephra deposits are chemically distinct from those erupted from the Kuwae caldera. Recognizing that the sulfate peak is not associated with the Kuwae volcano, and likely not a large stratospheric tropical eruption, requires revision of the stratospheric sulfate injection mass that is used for parameterization of paleoclimate models. Future work is needed to confirm that a volcanic eruption from Mt. Reclus is one of the possible sources of the 1458 C.E. sulfate anomaly in Antarctic ice cores.

Details

Title
Volcanic glass properties from 1459 C.E. volcanic event in South Pole ice core dismiss Kuwae caldera as a potential source
Author
Hartman, Laura H 1 ; Kurbatov, Andrei V 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Winski, Dominic A 1 ; Cruz-Uribe, Alicia M 3 ; Davies, Siwan M 4 ; Dunbar, Nelia W 5 ; Iverson, Nels A 5 ; Aydin, Murat 6 ; Fegyveresi, John M 7 ; Ferris, David G 8 ; Fudge, T J 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Osterberg, Erich C 8 ; Hargreaves, Geoffrey M 10 ; Yates, Martin G 3 

1  Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA 
2  Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA; School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA 
3  School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA 
4  College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK 
5  Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA 
6  Dept. of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA 
7  School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA 
8  Dept. of Earth Science, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA 
9  Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA 
10  National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility, Denver Federal Center, Lakewood, CO, USA 
Pages
1-7
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Oct 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50939-x
ProQuest document ID
2302421767
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.