Trends in south pole particle concentrations imply holocene westerly wind strengthening

Chesler, Aaron; Winski, Dominic; Kreutz, Karl; Koffman, Bess; Osterberg, Erich; Ferris, David; Thundercloud, Zayta; Cole-Dai, Jihong; Wells, Mark; Putnam, Aaron; Anderson, Katherine

doi:10.5194/cp-22-1741-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1741-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1741-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 9

Research article

|

28 Sep 2026

Research article |

| 28 Sep 2026

Trends in south pole particle concentrations imply holocene westerly wind strengthening

Aaron Chesler, Dominic Winski, Karl Kreutz, Bess Koffman, Erich Osterberg, David Ferris, Zayta Thundercloud, Jihong Cole-Dai, Mark Wells, Aaron Putnam, and Katherine Anderson

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1741-2026-supplement

Data sets

South Pole (SPC14) microparticle concentration, mass concentration, flux, particle-size-distribution mode, and aspect ratio measurements Karl Kreutz https://doi.org/10.15784/601553

South Pole high resolution ice core water stable isotope record for dD, d18O Eric J. Steig et al. https://doi.org/10.15784/601239

Short summary

The Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds impact global climate and Antarctic ice sheet stability; however, there are few complete records over the past 12 000 years. We use a new mineral dust record from a South Pole ice core and identify a decrease in particle concentration and an increase in coarse particle percentage over the past ~ 11 000 years. Together with other records, our data suggests a southward shift in the winds starting ~ 6500 years ago related to warming in the Southern Hemisphere.