Abstract
Explosive volcanic eruptions can follow long cycles of activity1, and the material that they inject into the atmosphere may affect the climate2. We report here the discovery of ultrathin micrometre-sized glass shards from such eruptions, extracted from both ancient Antarctic ices and recent snow samples from Greenland, in which they have been well preserved by ‘deep freezing’. When such shards have been preselected using a high-voltage electron microscope, microanalysis of their eight major constituent elements gives new clues about the origin of major volcanic acid fallout previously detected in the cores (including important characteristics of their parent eruptions), and reveals complex volcanic ash layers that could reflect periods of world-wide enhanced volcanicity. Moreover, the very small Reynolds numbers of the micrometre-sized shards make them promising tracers of dust transport processes in the ancient atmosphere.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kennet, J. P. Science 187, 497–503 (1975).
Pollack, J. P. et al. J. geophys. Res. 81, 1071–1083 (1976).
Hammer, C. J. Glacial. 25, 359–372 (1980).
Delmas, R. & Bourton, C. J. geophys. Res. 85, 5645–5649 (1980).
Legrand, M. Univ. Scient. Méd. Genoble, Publ. No. 316, 1–107 (1980).
Briat, M., Royer, A., Petit, J. R. & Lorius, C. Annls Glaciol 3, 27–31 (1982).
Kyle, P. R., Palais, J. & Delmas, R. Annls Glaciol. 3, 172–177 (1982).
Lorius, C., Merlivat, L., Jouzel, J. & Pourchet, M. Nature 280, 644–648 (1979).
Landeau, L. D. & Lifshitz, E. M. in Fluid Mechanics, 67 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1959).
Cole, J. W. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys. 22, 631–657 (1979).
Allard, P., Amy, B., Halbwachs, M., Matheron, S. & Vuillemin, J. J. Volcan. Geotherm. Res. (in the press).
Fehrenbach, L. Bull. PIRSPEV No. 94, 1–85 (1984).
Peccerillo, A. & Taylor, S. R. Miner. Petrol. 58, 63–81 (1976).
Small, J. A. Scann. Electron. Microsc. 1, 447–461 (1981).
Fehrenbach, L., Hammer, C., Langevin, Y., Maurette, M. & Zinner, E. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. (submitted).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Angelis, M., Fehrenbach, L., Jéhanno, C. et al. Micrometre-sized volcanic glasses in polar ices and snows. Nature 317, 52–54 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/317052a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/317052a0
This article is cited by
-
Origin and characterisation of microparticles in an ice core from the Central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (2009)
-
Aerosol concentrations over the last climatic cycle (160 kyr) from an Antarctic ice core
Nature (1987)
-
A 220-year continuous record of volcanic H2SO4 in the Antarctic ice sheet
Nature (1987)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
