L. Crick, A. Burke, W. Hutchison, M. Kohno, K. Moore, J. Savarino, E. Doyle, S. Mahony, S. Kipfstuhl, J. Rae, R. Steele, R. Sparks, E. Wolff
Abstract. The ~74 ka Toba eruption was one of the largest volcanic events of the Quaternary. There is much interest in determining the impact of such a huge event, particularly on the climate and hominid populations at the time. Although the Toba eruption has been identified in both land and marine archives as the Youngest Toba Tuff, its precise place in the ice core record is ambiguous. Multiple volcanic sulfate signals have been identified in both Antarctic and Greenland ice cores within the uncertainty of age estimates as possible events for the Toba eruption. We measure sulfur isotope compositions in Antarctic ice samples at high temporal resolution across 11 of these potential Toba sulfate peaks in two cores to identify candidates with sulfur mass-independent fractionation (S-MIF), indicative of an eruption whose plume reached altitudes at or above the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Using this method, we identify several candidate sulfate peaks that contain stratospheric sulfur. We further narrow down potential candidates based on the isotope signatures by identifying sulfate peaks that are due to a volcanic event at tropical latitudes. In one of these sulfate peaks at 73.67 ka, we find the largest ever reported magnitude of S-MIF in volcanic sulfate in polar ice, with a Δ33S value of −4.75 ‰. As there is a positive correlation between the magnitude of the S-MIF signal recorded in ice cores and eruptive plume height, this could be a likely candidate for the Toba supereruption, with a plume height in excess of 45 km. These results support the 73.7 ± 0.3 ka (1σ) ka Ar/Ar age estimate for the eruption, with ice core ages of our candidates with the largest magnitude S-MIF at 73.67 and 73.74 ka. Finally, since these candidate eruptions occurred on the transition into Greenland Stadial 20, the relative timing suggests that Toba was not the trigger for the large Northern Hemisphere cooling at this time although we cannot rule out an amplifying effect.
摘要~74 ka多巴火山喷发是第四纪最大的火山事件之一。人们对确定这样一个巨大事件的影响非常感兴趣,特别是对当时的气候和人类种群的影响。虽然多巴火山喷发在陆地和海洋档案中都被确定为最年轻的多巴凝灰岩,但它在冰芯记录中的确切位置是模糊的。在年龄估计的不确定性范围内,在南极和格陵兰冰芯中发现了多个火山硫酸盐信号,这些信号可能是多巴火山爆发的事件。我们以高时间分辨率测量了两个岩芯中11个潜在多巴硫酸盐峰的南极冰样品中的硫同位素组成,以确定具有硫质量无关分馏(S-MIF)的候选物,表明其喷发的羽流达到平流层中臭氧层的高度或以上。利用这种方法,我们确定了几个含有平流层硫的候选硫酸盐峰。我们根据同位素特征进一步缩小了潜在的候选范围,通过识别由于热带纬度火山事件引起的硫酸盐峰。在其中一个73.67 ka的硫酸盐峰中,我们发现极地冰中火山硫酸盐S-MIF的最大量级,其Δ33S值为- 4.75‰。由于在冰芯中记录的S-MIF信号的强度与喷发的羽流高度之间存在正相关关系,这可能是多巴超级喷发的一个可能的候选,羽流高度超过45公里。这些结果支持73.7±0.3 ka (1σ) ka Ar/Ar年龄的估计,其中S-MIF等最大的候选冰芯年龄分别为73.67和73.74 ka。最后,由于这些候选喷发发生在向格陵兰Stadial 20过渡的时候,相对时间表明多巴火山并不是当时北半球大规模降温的触发因素,尽管我们不能排除放大效应的可能性。
{"title":"New insights into the ~74 ka Toba eruption from sulfur isotopes of polar ice cores","authors":"L. Crick, A. Burke, W. Hutchison, M. Kohno, K. Moore, J. Savarino, E. Doyle, S. Mahony, S. Kipfstuhl, J. Rae, R. Steele, R. Sparks, E. Wolff","doi":"10.5194/CP-2021-38","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/CP-2021-38","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The ~74 ka Toba eruption was one of the largest volcanic events of the Quaternary. There is much interest in determining the impact of such a huge event, particularly on the climate and hominid populations at the time. Although the Toba eruption has been identified in both land and marine archives as the Youngest Toba Tuff, its precise place in the ice core record is ambiguous. Multiple volcanic sulfate signals have been identified in both Antarctic and Greenland ice cores within the uncertainty of age estimates as possible events for the Toba eruption. We measure sulfur isotope compositions in Antarctic ice samples at high temporal resolution across 11 of these potential Toba sulfate peaks in two cores to identify candidates with sulfur mass-independent fractionation (S-MIF), indicative of an eruption whose plume reached altitudes at or above the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Using this method, we identify several candidate sulfate peaks that contain stratospheric sulfur. We further narrow down potential candidates based on the isotope signatures by identifying sulfate peaks that are due to a volcanic event at tropical latitudes. In one of these sulfate peaks at 73.67 ka, we find the largest ever reported magnitude of S-MIF in volcanic sulfate in polar ice, with a Δ33S value of −4.75 ‰. As there is a positive correlation between the magnitude of the S-MIF signal recorded in ice cores and eruptive plume height, this could be a likely candidate for the Toba supereruption, with a plume height in excess of 45 km. These results support the 73.7 ± 0.3 ka (1σ) ka Ar/Ar age estimate for the eruption, with ice core ages of our candidates with the largest magnitude S-MIF at 73.67 and 73.74 ka. Finally, since these candidate eruptions occurred on the transition into Greenland Stadial 20, the relative timing suggests that Toba was not the trigger for the large Northern Hemisphere cooling at this time although we cannot rule out an amplifying effect.","PeriodicalId":263057,"journal":{"name":"Climate of The Past Discussions","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134485764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract. The East Asian winter monsoon is characterized by a strong east–west surface pressure gradient and the outbreak of cold air around Japan. It causes heavy snowfall in the Sea of Japan side of the Japanese Islands. Meanwhile, fine weather prevails over the Pacific Ocean side owing to topographical effects. Documents pertaining to daily weather in Japan often provide useful weather information regarding the appearance of typical “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” in the historical period. In addition to historical daily weather documents, we recovered several early pressure observation series in Japan and China from the 19th century. A combined analysis of historical daily weather documents and early surface pressure observation may result in an effective detection of outbreaks arising from the East Asian winter monsoon in the historical period. Knowledge regarding atmospheric circulation fields associated with “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” is essential for this combined analysis. We first investigate temporal evolutions of circulation fields associated with “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” for the present day (1968–1980). The result indicates that the southward expansion of the Siberian High and eastward movement of extratropical cyclones around Japan result in a significant east–west surface pressure gradient in East Asia. This pressure gradient causes “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” in Japan. Subsequently, we attempted to reconstruct the outbreak of the winter monsoon around Japan for the winter of 1851/52 using both historical weather documents and newly recovered early instrumental pressure data of Japan and China. The reconstructed results show that the outbreak of the East Asian winter monsoon can be reasonably detected by focusing on the sequence of reconstructed daily weather patterns and the east–west pressure gradient calculated using early instrumental pressure data.
{"title":"Combined analysis of early pressure observation data and historical daily weather documents for winter climate reconstruction in Japan","authors":"J. Hirano, Tekahiko Mikami, M. Zaiki","doi":"10.5194/CP-2021-33","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/CP-2021-33","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The East Asian winter monsoon is characterized by a strong east–west surface pressure gradient and the outbreak of cold air around Japan. It causes heavy snowfall in the Sea of Japan side of the Japanese Islands. Meanwhile, fine weather prevails over the Pacific Ocean side owing to topographical effects. Documents pertaining to daily weather in Japan often provide useful weather information regarding the appearance of typical “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” in the historical period. In addition to historical daily weather documents, we recovered several early pressure observation series in Japan and China from the 19th century. A combined analysis of historical daily weather documents and early surface pressure observation may result in an effective detection of outbreaks arising from the East Asian winter monsoon in the historical period. Knowledge regarding atmospheric circulation fields associated with “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” is essential for this combined analysis. We first investigate temporal evolutions of circulation fields associated with “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” for the present day (1968–1980). The result indicates that the southward expansion of the Siberian High and eastward movement of extratropical cyclones around Japan result in a significant east–west surface pressure gradient in East Asia. This pressure gradient causes “winter-monsoon-type weather patterns” in Japan. Subsequently, we attempted to reconstruct the outbreak of the winter monsoon around Japan for the winter of 1851/52 using both historical weather documents and newly recovered early instrumental pressure data of Japan and China. The reconstructed results show that the outbreak of the East Asian winter monsoon can be reasonably detected by focusing on the sequence of reconstructed daily weather patterns and the east–west pressure gradient calculated using early instrumental pressure data.\u0000","PeriodicalId":263057,"journal":{"name":"Climate of The Past Discussions","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125335619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Segato, Maria del Carmen Villoslada Hidalgo, R. Edwards, E. Barbaro, P. Vallelonga, H. Kjær, M. Simonsen, B. Vinther, Niccolò Maffezzoli, R. Zangrando, C. Turetta, D. Battistel, Orri Vésteinsson, C. Barbante, A. Spolaor
Abstract. Biomass burning influences global atmospheric chemistry by releasing greenhouse gases and climate-forcing aerosols. There is controversy about the magnitude and timing of Holocene changes in biomass burning emissions from millennial to centennial time scales and, in particular, on the possible impact of ancient civilizations. Here we present a 5 kyr record of fire activity proxies levoglucosan, black carbon and ammonium measured in the RECAP ice core, drilled in the coastal East Greenland and therefore affected by processes occurring in the High North Atlantic Region. Levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes show high levels from 5 to 4.5 kyr followed by an abrupt decline, possibly due to monotonic decline in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Levoglucosan and black carbon show an abrupt decline at 1.1 kyr BP (before 2000 AD), suggesting a decline in wildfire regime in the Icelandic territory due to the extensive land clearing caused by Viking colonizers. A minimum is reached at 0.5 kyr BP for all fire proxies, after which levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes increase again, in particular over the last 200 years. We find that the fire regime reconstructed from RECAP fluxes seems mainly related to climatic changes, however over the last millennium human activities might have had a substantial influence controlling the occurrence of fire.
{"title":"5 kyr of fire history in the High North Atlantic Region: natural\u0000variability and ancient human forcing","authors":"D. Segato, Maria del Carmen Villoslada Hidalgo, R. Edwards, E. Barbaro, P. Vallelonga, H. Kjær, M. Simonsen, B. Vinther, Niccolò Maffezzoli, R. Zangrando, C. Turetta, D. Battistel, Orri Vésteinsson, C. Barbante, A. Spolaor","doi":"10.5194/CP-2021-26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/CP-2021-26","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Biomass burning influences global atmospheric chemistry by releasing greenhouse gases and climate-forcing aerosols. There is controversy about the magnitude and timing of Holocene changes in biomass burning emissions from millennial to centennial time scales and, in particular, on the possible impact of ancient civilizations. Here we present a 5 kyr record of fire activity proxies levoglucosan, black carbon and ammonium measured in the RECAP ice core, drilled in the coastal East Greenland and therefore affected by processes occurring in the High North Atlantic Region. Levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes show high levels from 5 to 4.5 kyr followed by an abrupt decline, possibly due to monotonic decline in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Levoglucosan and black carbon show an abrupt decline at 1.1 kyr BP (before 2000 AD), suggesting a decline in wildfire regime in the Icelandic territory due to the extensive land clearing caused by Viking colonizers. A minimum is reached at 0.5 kyr BP for all fire proxies, after which levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes increase again, in particular over the last 200 years. We find that the fire regime reconstructed from RECAP fluxes seems mainly related to climatic changes, however over the last millennium human activities might have had a substantial influence controlling the occurrence of fire.","PeriodicalId":263057,"journal":{"name":"Climate of The Past Discussions","volume":"473 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116188618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}