Elsevier

Global and Planetary Change

Volume 137, February 2016, Pages 69-78
Global and Planetary Change

A new Eemian record of Antarctic tephra layers retrieved from the Talos Dome ice core (Northern Victoria Land)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.12.016Get rights and content

Highlights

  • 13 new visible tephra layers from an accurately dated Antarctic ice core documented

  • Tephra characterisation based on grain size, glass-shard geochemistry and isotope stratigraphy

  • Dominant sources are the Northern Victoria Land volcanoes.

  • The Last Interglacial tephrostratigraphic framework for the Antarctic ice sheet is enhanced.

  • Reconstruction of the local explosive volcanic activity is considerably improved.

Abstract

Polar ice sheets are remarkable repositories of tephra layers. The Talos Dome ice core (72°49′S, 159°11′E), drilled at the edge of the East Antarctic Plateau, close to Late Quaternary volcanoes, offers considerable potential to extend the current tephra time-stratigraphic framework. A tephrochronological study was undertaken of the ice core sections related to the Last Interglacial and the transition to the subsequent glacial period. Thirteen macroscopically visible layers, interpreted to be related to primary deposition of fallout tephra, have been analysed for quantitative grain size and glass shard geochemistry. The layers, precisely framed within the climate (δ18O) record for the core, span in age from 111.6 ± 1.9 to 123.3 ± 2.2 ka. Coarse particle size suggests origin from regional sources. Indeed, the vast majority of the samples display an alkaline affinity and trachytic composition that are both typical geochemical features of rifting Antarctic volcanism. Using subtle differences in the geochemical signatures and the comparison with data from previous studies, a few layers are attributed to known coeval Mt. Melbourne eruptions. Another sample subset is consistent with derivation from The Pleiades and Mt. Rittmann volcanoes. One peculiar trachytic glass population appears to be related to activity of the more distant Marie Byrd Land volcanoes. The newly detected tephras provide stratigraphic markers that could facilitate future synchronisation and dating of palaeoclimatic records. The Talos Dome tephra inventory also contributes significantly to the reconstruction of the Northern Victoria Land explosive volcanism, for which chronostratigraphic data for the Last Interglacial temporal segment are poor.

Introduction

In palaeoclimatic studies, past interglacials are considered natural analogues of the present climate conditions (Tzedakis et al., 2009). The Last Interglacial in particular (also known as Eemian in European continental stratigraphy, ca. 132–116 ka BP) is characterised by global temperatures and sea level higher than today (e.g., Kopp et al., 2009) and represents an important case study for understanding climate forcing mechanisms and related feedbacks in the absence of human activity. Past records from the Antarctic ice sheets are particularly suitable for climate reconstruction purposes, as the information about forcings and responses furnished by ice successions is by far more exhaustive than other environmental archives (e.g., Loulergue et al., 2008). A few stratigraphically coherent, well-dated ice records covering the Last Interglacial are now available (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2011). Their study and comparison have shown common palaeoclimate features and local specificities that need to be further investigated in the context of the regional variability (e.g., Pol et al., 2014).

Tephra layers formed directly from explosive eruptions and occurring embedded in polar ice can act as tie-lines for dating and synchronising palaeoclimatic records over wide areas (e.g., Narcisi et al., 2006, Lemieux-Dudon et al., 2010, Abbott and Davies, 2012). They can also contribute to reconstructions of the past volcanic activity (e.g., Wei et al., 2008) and help elucidate its relationship with climate change (Sigl et al., 2014). Yet, despite the growing scientific interest in the Antarctic tephrochronology and volcanism (Smellie, 1999, and references therein) and the significant number of recent studies dealing with englacial Antarctic tephras (Pallàs et al., 2001, Gow and Meese, 2007, Curzio et al., 2008, Dunbar and Kurbatov, 2011 and references therein), to date only a handful of Antarctic sequences spanning the full Last Interglacial have been studied for their tephra content and stratigraphy (Fig. 1). In particular, three long cores (Dome C, Vostok and Dome Fuji) located in the inner sector of the Plateau and spanning the last four glacial cycles form the tephrostratigraphic framework of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (Narcisi et al., 2010b, and references therein). Most of the tephras in these cores are produced from volcanoes in the South Atlantic region. In West Antarctica, the horizontal ice trench in the Mt. Moulton blue ice area, dominated by local (Marie Byrd Land) volcanism, represents the only Last Interglacial tephra record so far developed (Dunbar et al., 2008, Korotkikh et al., 2011).

The Talos Dome ice core represents a tephra repository well suited for adding to current Antarctic tephrostratigraphic record of the Last Interglacial for several reasons. It contains an uninterrupted palaeoclimate record of the last 250 ka (Stenni et al., 2011) provided with a robust age scale (Bazin et al., 2013, Veres et al., 2013). Thus the core tephra horizons, suitable to geochemical analyses, can be chrono- and climatostratigraphically constrained (Narcisi et al., 2001, Narcisi et al., 2010a, Narcisi et al., 2012). Interestingly, this site is situated at the periphery of the East Antarctic ice sheet (Fig. 1) in a sector still largely unexplored from the tephra point of view. In particular, it is close enough to several Quaternary volcanoes of the West Antarctic rifting system to record explosive events from multiple regional sources (e.g., Narcisi et al., 2012) and possibly to preserve markers for correlation with volcanic layers occurring within the West Antarctic ice sheet and in marine sediment sequences from the nearby Ross Sea.

In this work we investigated the grain size, morphological and grain-specific geochemical characteristics of the volcanic material preserved within distinct megascopic tephra layers in the core sections related to the Last Interglacial and beginning of the subsequent glacial inception. We then compared the results with published reference data for potential volcanic sources and for specific known tephra deposits with comparable ages, in order to assess the volcanic provenance and to attempt stratigraphic correlations. The goals of this study are: i) expand the Antarctic tephrostratigraphic framework by adding data from a near-coastal site of the East Antarctic ice sheet, ii) identify isochronous markers that could assist future stratigraphic correlations across wide distances, iii) provide a chronicle of explosive eruptions that could improve existing knowledge of the regional volcanic history.

Section snippets

Study site and previous core work

Talos Dome (72°49′S, 159°11′E; 2315 m) is an ice dome adjacent to the Victoria Land mountains, at the South Pacific/Ross Sea margin of the East Antarctic Plateau (Fig. 1). Based on preliminary investigations carried out within the framework of the France–Italy ITASE programme (Stenni et al., 2002), this site was chosen for retrieving an ice core record of palaeoclimate and atmospheric history back through the previous two interglacials. The core was successfully drilled down to ca. 1620 m as part

Tephra layers and data collection

Here, we focus on 13 prominent tephra layers occurring in the core section between 1380 and 1398 m depth (Fig. 2). They were identified during the visual examination of ice cores for continuous logging and sub-sampling. The layers, ranging in thickness from 1 to 10 mm and showing various colour and appearance, are stratigraphically positioned within the Last Interglacial and the transition to the following glacial period. Using the AICC2012 chronology, they have ages spanning from 111.6 ± 1.9 to

Grain size, microfeatures, and glass geochemical characteristics of the tephra layers

Quantitative granulometric analysis indicates that the samples show different size mode and sorting (Fig. 3). Modes vary from ca. 4.5 μm up to almost 20 μm. Input of material at the studied layers is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater than the monthly aeolian dust background values measured at Talos Dome (Table 1 Supplementary). TD1382 represents the coarsest layer and is also the most concentrated.

Based on microscopic examination, particles in the samples are up to 100 μm in size and are mostly

Conclusions

We have characterised the volcanic particulate matter of 13 visible layers from the accurately dated Talos Dome ice core. The newly developed tephra record for the Last Interglacial period augments the tephra stratigraphic framework of the Antarctic ice sheet. The studied layers are derived by direct ash fall-out, are independently dated and have precise stratigraphic positions relative to the ice core climatic profile. They could become new event markers to investigate the relative timing of

Acknowledgements

TALos Dome Ice CorE (TALDICE) is a joint European programme lead by Italy and funded by national contributions from Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This work was funded by the Italian Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide (PNRA). We thank the logistic and drilling TALDICE team, M. Tonelli (CIGS, Modena), V. Batanova and V. Magnin (ISTerre, Grenoble) for assistance during tephra preparation and microanalysis. Thanks are also due to P. Shane (University of

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