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A continuous 250-year record of volcanic activity from Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2004

M.J. Zhang ,
Z.Q. Li ,
C.D. Xiao ,
D.H. Qin ,
H.A. Yang ,
J.C. Kang  and
J. Li
M.J. Zhang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Z.Q. Li
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
C.D. Xiao
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
D.H. Qin
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
H.A. Yang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
J.C. Kang
Affiliation:
Chinese Institute of Polar Research, Shanghai 200129, China
J. Li
Affiliation:
Antarctic Cooperation Research Center and Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
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Abstract

A 51.85 m ice core collected from site LGB65 (accumulation rate 127 kg m−2 a−1, mean annual temperature −33.1°C) in Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica, during the 1996–97 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Expedition has been analysed for chemical composition and oxygen isotope ratio. Based on the high definition of seasonal variations of major ions, the ice core was dated with errors within ± 3 years. The continuous sulphate analysis of the ice core provides an annually resolved proxy history of southern hemisphere volcanism in the past 250 years. High nssSO42−, concentrations seem to be well correlated to some explosive volcanic eruptions, such as Tambora (AD 1815), Coseguina (AD 1835), Krakatoa (AD 1883) and Tarawera (AD 1886). In comparison with other volcanic records, it seems that nssSO42− concentration data provide a better proxy for detecting volcanic activity than nssSO42− fluxes in low and intermediate accumulation regions, however, in high accumulation regions, small and moderate events may be more identifiable using of nssSO42− flux data.

Keywords

ice corenon-sea salt sulphatePrincess Elizabeth Landvolcanic activity
Type
Earth Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 55 - 60
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2002

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