Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-633-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-633-2021
Research article
 | 
11 Mar 2021
Research article |  | 11 Mar 2021

Simulation of ash clouds after a Laacher See-type eruption

Ulrike Niemeier, Felix Riede, and Claudia Timmreck

Model code and software

ECHAM5 Data of: Simulation of a Laacher See-type eruption Ulrike Niemeier, Felix Riede, and Claudia Timmreck http://cera-www.dkrz.de/WDCC/ui/Compact.jsp?acronym=DKRZ_LTA_550_ds00004

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Short summary
The 13 kyr BP Laacher See eruption impacted local environments, human communities and climate. We have simulated the evolution of its fine ash and sulfur cloud such that it reflects the empirically known ash distribution. In our models, the heating of the ash causes a mesocyclone which changes the dispersion of the cloud itself, resulting in enhanced transport to low latitudes. This may partially explain why no Laacher See ash has yet been found in Greenlandic ice cores.