Tephra layers in the Byrd Station ice core and the Dome C ice core, Antarctica and their climatic importance

Abstract

Abstract Volcanic glass shards from tephra layers in the Byrd Station ice core were chemically analyzed by electron microprobe. Tephra in seven layers have similar peralkaline trachyte compositions. The tephra are believed to originate from Mt. Takahe, on the basis of their chemical similarity to analyzed rocks from Mt. Takahe and because dated rock samples from the volcano are younger than 250,000 years old. Glass shards from 726 m deep in the Dome C ice core, which is 2400 km from Byrd Station, are composed of peralkaline trachyte and may have also been derived from Mt. Takahe. The tephra could have resulted from eruptions which were triggered by increased ice loading during the late Wisconsin glaciation. Preliminary grain size data suggest the eruptions were only minor and they were unlikely to have instantaneously altered global climate as have explosive eruptions in the tropics. Nevertheless, the effect of this localized volcanic activity upon the Antarctic energy budget warrants further investigation.