Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1585-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1585-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Sep 2025
Research article |
| 11 Sep 2025
| 11 Sep 2025
500 000-year-old basal ice at Skytrain Ice Rise, West Antarctica, estimated with the 36Cl ∕ 10Be ratio
Department of Geology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, 22362 Lund, Sweden
Eric Wolff
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EQ Cambridge, United Kingdom
Marcus Christl
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Otto-Stern Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Christof Vockenhuber
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Otto-Stern Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Philip Gautschi
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Otto-Stern Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Raimund Muscheler
Department of Geology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, 22362 Lund, Sweden
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Chantal Schmidt, David Mair, Naki Akçar, Marcus Christl, Negar Haghipour, Christof Vockenhuber, Philip Gautschi, Brian McArdell, and Fritz Schlunegger
Earth Surf. Dynam., 14, 33–53, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-33-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-33-2026, 2026
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Our study examines erosion in a small, pre-Alpine basin by using cosmogenic nuclides in river sediments. Based on a dense measuring network we were able to distinguish two main zones: an upper zone with slow erosion of surface material, and a steeper, lower zone where faster erosion is driven by landslides. The data suggests that sediment has been constantly produced over thousands of years, indicating a stable, long-term balance between contrasting erosion processes.
Angus Moore, Maud Henrion, Yanfei Li, Eléonore du bois d'Aische, Philip Gautschi, Marcus Christl, François Jonard, Sébastien Lambot, Kristof Van Oost, Sophie Opfergelt, and Veerle Vanacker
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-36, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-36, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Earth Surface Dynamics (ESurf).
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Studying peatlands dynamics over long timescales requires a proxy for past peat cover. In this paper, we explore the use of cosmogenic nuclides to infer peat thicknesses averaged over 100 kyr timescales. We find that long-term peat thicknesses inferred from cosmogenic nuclides at an upland peatland site in the Belgian Ardennes are consistent with independent constraints, but exceed modern peat thicknesses. We attribute this discrepancy to peat degradation associated with historical land use.
Qin Tao, Cheng Shen, Raimund Muscheler, and Jesper Sjolte
Clim. Past, 21, 2561–2578, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2561-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2561-2025, 2025
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Using model simulations and reconstructions over the last millennium, we identify distinct North Atlantic Oscillation-related winter climate responses following tropical versus extratropical eruptions, with improved model-data agreement in simulations that use the latest volcanic forcing. Our paleoclimate data–model comparison provides new evidence of volcanic climate impacts, which are strongly dependent on the choice of forcing dataset, model configuration, and eruption event selection.
Anne-Marie Wefing, Annabel Payne, Marcel Scheiwiller, Christof Vockenhuber, Marcus Christl, Toste Tanhua, and Núria Casacuberta
Ocean Sci., 21, 3311–3340, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3311-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3311-2025, 2025
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Here we used the anthropogenic radionuclides I-129 and U-236 as tracers for Atlantic Water circulation in the Arctic Ocean. New data collected in 2021 allowed to assess the distribution of Atlantic Water and mixing with Pacific-origin water in the surface layer in that year. By using historical tracer data from 2011 to 2021, we looked into temporal changes of the circulation and found slightly older waters in the central Arctic Ocean in 2021 compared to 2015.
Felix S. L. Ng, Rachael H. Rhodes, Tyler J. Fudge, and Eric W. Wolff
The Cryosphere, 19, 5693–5717, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5693-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-5693-2025, 2025
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Impurity diffusion in ice destroys climate history. We give a new way to find the diffusion rate from ice-core records. Its use on sulphate of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C core reveals rapid diffusion in snow (suggesting H2SO4 vapour diffusion in air pores) and slow diffusion in the ice below (involving signal relocation between crystal interfaces). We estimate a maximum sulphate diffusion length of 2 cm for the old ice sought by the coring projects on Little Dome C.
Lukas Rettig, Sandro Rossato, Sarah Kamleitner, Paolo Mozzi, Susan Ivy-Ochs, Enrico Marcato, Marcus Christl, Silvana Martin, and Giovanni Monegato
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 151–168, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-151-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-151-2025, 2025
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The work shows detailed reconstructions of the glaciers in the Valsugana area (south-eastern Alps) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and is supported by robust evidence and new exposure datings. These are the first ages for the internal sector of the south-eastern Alps. Local glaciers not connected with the major ice network were used for the calculation of their equilibrium line altitude. This let us estimate LGM palaeoprecipitation and compare it to Alpine palaeoclimatological models.
Lisa G. T. Leist, Maxi Castrillejo, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Craig Lee, Jed Lenetsky, Marc Ringuette, Christof Vockenhuber, Habacuc Pérez-Tribouilier, and Núria Casacuberta
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4178, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4178, 2025
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The Arctic and Atlantic Oceans are connected by narrow passages, and the exchange of waters affect global climate. Using artificial radionuclides from nuclear reprocessing discharges, we traced the origin of water masses from the Arctic to the Labrador Sea. Results show that waters from Canadian Arctic origin entering via Lancaster Sound are a key freshwater source to the Labrador Sea. These flows strongly influence the formation of deep waters in the Atlantic, vital for the global circulation.
Amy Constance Faith King, Thomas Keith Bauska, Amaelle Landais, Carlos Martin, and Eric William Wolff
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3305, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3305, 2025
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We show how measurements of nitrogen isotopes in Antarctic ice core records can be used to show dramatic thinning of an ice sheet during ice mass changes in the Holocene. Combining such measurements with proxies for ice sheet elevation could be a powerful tool for constraining the history of ice dynamics at sites which are sensitive to rapid changes, and could contribute to constraining ice sheet models.
Luisa I. Minich, Dylan Geissbühler, Stefan Tobler, Annegret Udke, Alexander S. Brunmayr, Margaux Moreno Duborgel, Ciriaco McMackin, Lukas Wacker, Philip Gautschi, Negar Haghipour, Markus Egli, Ansgar Kahmen, Jens Leifeld, Timothy I. Eglinton, and Frank Hagedorn
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2267, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2267, 2025
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We developed a framework using rates and 14C-derived ages of soil-respired CO2 and its sources (autotrophic, heterotrophic) to identify carbon cycling pathways in different land-use types. Rates, ages and sources of respired CO2 varied across forests, grasslands, croplands, and managed peatlands. Our results suggest that the relationship between rates and ages of respired CO2 serves as a robust indicator of carbon retention or destabilization from natural to disturbed systems.
Janet C. Richardson, Veerle Vanacker, David M. Hodgson, Marcus Christl, and Andreas Lang
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 315–339, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-315-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-315-2025, 2025
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Pediments are long flat surfaces that extend outwards from the foot of mountains; within South Africa they are regarded as ancient landforms that can give key insights into landscape and mantle dynamics. Cosmogenic nuclide dating has been incorporated with geological (soil formation) and geomorphological (river incision) evidence, which shows that the pediments are long-lived features beyond the ages reported by cosmogenic nuclide dating.
Giulia Zazzeri, Lukas Wacker, Negar Haghipour, Philip Gautschi, Thomas Laemmel, Sönke Szidat, and Heather Graven
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 319–325, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-319-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-319-2025, 2025
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Radiocarbon (14C) is an optimal tracer of methane (CH4) emissions, as 14C measurements enable distinguishing between fossil methane and biogenic methane. However, these measurements are particularly challenging, mainly due to technical difficulties in the sampling procedure. We made the sample extraction much simpler and time efficient, providing a new technology that can be used by any research group, with the goal of expanding 14C measurements for an improved understanding of methane sources.
Helene Hoffmann, Jason Day, Rachael H. Rhodes, Mackenzie Grieman, Jack Humby, Isobel Rowell, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Robert Mulvaney, Sally Gibson, and Eric Wolff
The Cryosphere, 18, 4993–5013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4993-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4993-2024, 2024
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Ice cores are archives of past atmospheric conditions. In deep and old ice, the layers containing this information get thinned to the millimetre scale or below. We installed a setup for high-resolution (182 μm) chemical impurity measurements in ice cores using the laser ablation technique at the University of Cambridge. In a first application to the Skytrain ice core from Antarctica, we discuss the potential to detect fine-layered structures in ice up to an age of 26 000 years.
Rachael H. Rhodes, Yvan Bollet-Quivogne, Piers Barnes, Mirko Severi, and Eric W. Wolff
Clim. Past, 20, 2031–2043, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2031-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2031-2024, 2024
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Some ionic components slowly move through glacier ice by diffusion, but the rate of this diffusion, its exact mechanism(s), and the factors that might influence it are poorly understood. In this study, we model how peaks in sulfate, deposited at Dome C on the Antarctic ice sheet after volcanic eruptions, change with depth and time. We find that the sulfate diffusion rate in ice is relatively fast in young ice near the surface, but the rate is markedly reduced over time.
Dorothea Elisabeth Moser, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Anja Eichler, and Eric Wolff
The Cryosphere, 18, 2691–2718, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2691-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2691-2024, 2024
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Increasing temperatures worldwide lead to more melting of glaciers and ice caps, even in the polar regions. This is why ice-core scientists need to prepare to analyse records affected by melting and refreezing. In this paper, we present a summary of how near-surface melt forms, what structural imprints it leaves in snow, how various signatures used for ice-core climate reconstruction are altered, and how we can still extract valuable insights from melt-affected ice cores.
Minjie Zheng, Hongyu Liu, Florian Adolphi, Raimund Muscheler, Zhengyao Lu, Mousong Wu, and Nønne L. Prisle
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 7037–7057, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-7037-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-7037-2023, 2023
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The radionuclides 7Be and 10Be are useful tracers for atmospheric transport studies. Here we use the GEOS-Chem to simulate 7Be and 10Be with different production rates: the default production rate in GEOS-Chem and two from the state-of-the-art beryllium production model. We demonstrate that reduced uncertainties in the production rates can enhance the utility of 7Be and 10Be as tracers for evaluating transport and scavenging processes in global models.
Chiara I. Paleari, Florian Mekhaldi, Tobias Erhardt, Minjie Zheng, Marcus Christl, Florian Adolphi, Maria Hörhold, and Raimund Muscheler
Clim. Past, 19, 2409–2422, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2409-2023, 2023
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In this study, we test the use of excess meltwater from continuous flow analysis from a firn core from Greenland for the measurement of 10Be for solar activity reconstructions. We show that the quality of results is similar to the measurements on clean firn, which opens the possibility to obtain continuous 10Be records without requiring large amounts of clean ice. Furthermore, we investigate the possibility of identifying solar storm signals in 10Be records from Greenland and Antarctica.
Tobias Erhardt, Camilla Marie Jensen, Florian Adolphi, Helle Astrid Kjær, Remi Dallmayr, Birthe Twarloh, Melanie Behrens, Motohiro Hirabayashi, Kaori Fukuda, Jun Ogata, François Burgay, Federico Scoto, Ilaria Crotti, Azzurra Spagnesi, Niccoló Maffezzoli, Delia Segato, Chiara Paleari, Florian Mekhaldi, Raimund Muscheler, Sophie Darfeuil, and Hubertus Fischer
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5079–5091, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5079-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5079-2023, 2023
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The presented paper provides a 3.8 kyr long dataset of aerosol concentrations from the East Greenland Ice coring Project (EGRIP) ice core. The data consists of 1 mm depth-resolution profiles of calcium, sodium, ammonium, nitrate, and electrolytic conductivity as well as decadal averages of these profiles. Alongside the data a detailed description of the measurement setup as well as a discussion of the uncertainties are given.
Catharina Dieleman, Philip Deline, Susan Ivy Ochs, Patricia Hug, Jordan Aaron, Marcus Christl, and Naki Akçar
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1873, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1873, 2023
Preprint withdrawn
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Valleys in the Alps are shaped by glaciers, rivers, mass movements, and slope processes. An understanding of such processes is of great importance in hazard mitigation. We focused on the evolution of the Frébouge cone, which is composed of glacial, debris flow, rock avalanche, and snow avalanche deposits. Debris flows started to form the cone prior to ca. 2 ka ago. In addition, the cone was overrun by a 10 Mm3 large rock avalanche at 1.3 ± 0.1 ka and by the Frébouge glacier at 300 ± 40 a.
Isobel Rowell, Carlos Martin, Robert Mulvaney, Helena Pryer, Dieter Tetzner, Emily Doyle, Hara Madhav Talasila, Jilu Li, and Eric Wolff
Clim. Past, 19, 1699–1714, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1699-2023, 2023
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We present an age scale for a new type of ice core from a vulnerable region in West Antarctic, which is lacking in longer-term (greater than a few centuries) ice core records. The Sherman Island core extends to greater than 1 kyr. We provide modelling evidence for the potential of a 10 kyr long core. We show that this new type of ice core can be robustly dated and that climate records from this core will be a significant addition to existing regional climate records.
Giulia Sinnl, Florian Adolphi, Marcus Christl, Kees C. Welten, Thomas Woodruff, Marc Caffee, Anders Svensson, Raimund Muscheler, and Sune Olander Rasmussen
Clim. Past, 19, 1153–1175, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1153-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1153-2023, 2023
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The record of past climate is preserved by several archives from different regions, such as ice cores from Greenland or Antarctica or speleothems from caves such as the Hulu Cave in China. In this study, these archives are aligned by taking advantage of the globally synchronous production of cosmogenic radionuclides. This produces a new perspective on the global climate in the period between 20 000 and 25 000 years ago.
Robert Mulvaney, Eric W. Wolff, Mackenzie M. Grieman, Helene H. Hoffmann, Jack D. Humby, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Rachael H. Rhodes, Isobel F. Rowell, Frédéric Parrenin, Loïc Schmidely, Hubertus Fischer, Thomas F. Stocker, Marcus Christl, Raimund Muscheler, Amaelle Landais, and Frédéric Prié
Clim. Past, 19, 851–864, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-851-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-851-2023, 2023
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We present an age scale for a new ice core drilled at Skytrain Ice Rise, an ice rise facing the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Various measurements in the ice and air phases are used to match the ice core to other Antarctic cores that have already been dated, and a new age scale is constructed. The 651 m ice core includes ice that is confidently dated to 117 000–126 000 years ago, in the last interglacial. Older ice is found deeper down, but there are flow disturbances in the deeper ice.
David A. Hodell, Simon J. Crowhurst, Lucas Lourens, Vasiliki Margari, John Nicolson, James E. Rolfe, Luke C. Skinner, Nicola C. Thomas, Polychronis C. Tzedakis, Maryline J. Mleneck-Vautravers, and Eric W. Wolff
Clim. Past, 19, 607–636, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-607-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-607-2023, 2023
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We produced a 1.5-million-year-long history of climate change at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1385 of the Iberian margin, a well-known location for rapidly accumulating sediments on the seafloor. Our record demonstrates that longer-term orbital changes in Earth's climate were persistently overprinted by abrupt millennial-to-centennial climate variability. The occurrence of abrupt climate change is modulated by the slower variations in Earth's orbit and climate background state.
Eric W. Wolff, Andrea Burke, Laura Crick, Emily A. Doyle, Helen M. Innes, Sue H. Mahony, James W. B. Rae, Mirko Severi, and R. Stephen J. Sparks
Clim. Past, 19, 23–33, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-23-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-23-2023, 2023
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Large volcanic eruptions leave an imprint of a spike of sulfate deposition that can be measured in ice cores. Here we use a method that logs the number and size of large eruptions recorded in an Antarctic core in a consistent way through the last 200 000 years. The rate of recorded eruptions is variable but shows no trends. In particular, there is no increase in recorded eruptions during deglaciation periods. This is consistent with most recorded eruptions being from lower latitudes.
Nathan Vandermaelen, Koen Beerten, François Clapuyt, Marcus Christl, and Veerle Vanacker
Geochronology, 4, 713–730, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-713-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-4-713-2022, 2022
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We constrained deposition phases of fluvial sediments (NE Belgium) over the last 1 Myr with analysis and modelling of rare isotopes accumulation within sediments, occurring as a function of time and inverse function of depth. They allowed the determination of three superposed deposition phases and intercalated non-deposition periods of ~ 40 kyr each. These phases correspond to 20 % of the sediment age, which highlights the importance of considering deposition phase when dating fluvial sediments.
Joanne Elkadi, Benjamin Lehmann, Georgina E. King, Olivia Steinemann, Susan Ivy-Ochs, Marcus Christl, and Frédéric Herman
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 909–928, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-909-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-909-2022, 2022
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Glacial and non-glacial processes have left a strong imprint on the landscape of the European Alps, but further research is needed to better understand their long-term effects. We apply a new technique combining two methods for bedrock surface dating to calculate post-glacier erosion rates next to a Swiss glacier. Interestingly, the results suggest non-glacial erosion rates are higher than previously thought, but glacial erosion remains the most influential on landscape evolution.
Takahito Mitsui, Polychronis C. Tzedakis, and Eric W. Wolff
Clim. Past, 18, 1983–1996, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1983-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1983-2022, 2022
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We provide simple quantitative models for the interglacial and glacial intensities over the last 800 000 years. Our results suggest that the memory of previous climate states and the time course of the insolation in both hemispheres are crucial for understanding interglacial and glacial intensities. In our model, the shift in interglacial intensities at the Mid-Brunhes Event (~430 ka) is ultimately attributed to the amplitude modulation of obliquity.
Helene M. Hoffmann, Mackenzie M. Grieman, Amy C. F. King, Jenna A. Epifanio, Kaden Martin, Diana Vladimirova, Helena V. Pryer, Emily Doyle, Axel Schmidt, Jack D. Humby, Isobel F. Rowell, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Robert Mulvaney, and Eric W. Wolff
Clim. Past, 18, 1831–1847, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1831-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1831-2022, 2022
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The WACSWAIN project (WArm Climate Stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet in the last INterglacial) investigates the fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the last warm period on Earth (115 000–130 000 years before present). Within this framework an ice core was recently drilled at Skytrain Ice Rise. In this study we present a stratigraphic chronology of that ice core based on absolute age markers and annual layer counting for the last 2000 years.
Eric W. Wolff, Hubertus Fischer, Tas van Ommen, and David A. Hodell
Clim. Past, 18, 1563–1577, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1563-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1563-2022, 2022
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Projects are underway to drill ice cores in Antarctica reaching 1.5 Myr back in time. Dating such cores will be challenging. One method is to match records from the new core against datasets from existing marine sediment cores. Here we explore the options for doing this and assess how well the ice and marine records match over the existing 800 000-year time period. We are able to recommend a strategy for using marine data to place an age scale on the new ice cores.
Elena Serra, Pierre G. Valla, Romain Delunel, Natacha Gribenski, Marcus Christl, and Naki Akçar
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 493–512, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-493-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-493-2022, 2022
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Alpine landscapes are transformed by several erosion processes. 10Be concentrations measured in river sediments at the outlet of a basin represent a powerful tool to quantify how fast the catchment erodes. We measured erosion rates within the Dora Baltea catchments (western Italian Alps). Our results show that erosion is governed by topography, bedrock resistance and glacial imprint. The Mont Blanc massif has the highest erosion and therefore dominates the sediment flux of the Dora Baltea river.
Giulia Sinnl, Mai Winstrup, Tobias Erhardt, Eliza Cook, Camilla Marie Jensen, Anders Svensson, Bo Møllesøe Vinther, Raimund Muscheler, and Sune Olander Rasmussen
Clim. Past, 18, 1125–1150, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1125-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1125-2022, 2022
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A new Greenland ice-core timescale, covering the last 3800 years, was produced using the machine learning algorithm StratiCounter. We synchronized the ice cores using volcanic eruptions and wildfires. We compared the new timescale to the tree-ring timescale, finding good alignment both between the common signatures of volcanic eruptions and of solar activity. Our Greenlandic timescales is safe to use for the Late Holocene, provided one uses our uncertainty estimate.
Laura Crick, Andrea Burke, William Hutchison, Mika Kohno, Kathryn A. Moore, Joel Savarino, Emily A. Doyle, Sue Mahony, Sepp Kipfstuhl, James W. B. Rae, Robert C. J. Steele, R. Stephen J. Sparks, and Eric W. Wolff
Clim. Past, 17, 2119–2137, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2119-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2119-2021, 2021
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The ~ 74 ka eruption of Toba was one of the largest eruptions of the last 100 ka. We have measured the sulfur isotopic composition for 11 Toba eruption candidates in two Antarctic ice cores. Sulfur isotopes allow us to distinguish between large eruptions that have erupted material into the stratosphere and smaller ones that reach lower altitudes. Using this we have identified the events most likely to be Toba and place the eruption on the transition into a cold period in the Northern Hemisphere.
Nathalie Van der Putten, Florian Adolphi, Anette Mellström, Jesper Sjolte, Cyriel Verbruggen, Jan-Berend Stuut, Tobias Erhardt, Yves Frenot, and Raimund Muscheler
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2021-69, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2021-69, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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In recent decades, Southern Hemisphere westerlies (SHW) moved equator-ward during periods of low solar activity leading to increased winds/precipitation at 46° S, Indian Ocean. We present a terrestrial SHW proxy-record and find stronger SHW influence at Crozet, shortly after 2.8 ka BP, synchronous with a climate shift in the Northern Hemisphere, attributed to a major decline in solar activity. The bipolar response to solar forcing is supported by a climate model forced by solar irradiance only.
Anne-Marie Wefing, Núria Casacuberta, Marcus Christl, Nicolas Gruber, and John N. Smith
Ocean Sci., 17, 111–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-111-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-111-2021, 2021
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Atlantic Water that carries heat and anthropogenic carbon into the Arctic Ocean plays an important role in the Arctic sea-ice cover decline, but its pathways and travel times remain unclear. Here we used two radionuclides of anthropogenic origin (129I and 236U) to track Atlantic-derived waters along their way through the Arctic Ocean, estimating their travel times and mixing properties. Results help to understand how future changes in Atlantic Water properties will spread through the Arctic.
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Short summary
By measuring the radioactive decay of atmospherically produced 36Cl and 10Be in an ice core drilled in West Antarctica, we were able to determine the age of the deepest sample close to bedrock to be about 550 thousand years old. This means that the ice in this location, known as Skytrain Ice Rise, has survived several warm periods in the past, at least since marine isotope stage 11.
By measuring the radioactive decay of atmospherically produced 36Cl and 10Be in an ice core...
