The volcanic record in ice cores for the past 2000 years

Abstract

Although it has been possible to construct a new index of global volcanism using ice core acidity and sulphate records for the period from 1850 to the present, for the 2000 year period, there are fewer ice cores available, and dating problems become more serious, especially for Antarctic cores. We have compared all the ice cores available for the past 2000 years with the Dust Veil Index (DVI) and the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) for this period. An Ice core-Volcanic Index constructed for the period 453 A.D. to the present shows little agreement with the DVI or VEI. Except for a very few eruptions, the ice core record currently available is insufficient to delineate the climatic forcing by explosive volcanic eruptions before about 1200 for the Northern Hemisphere and before about 1850 for the Southern Hemisphere. Additional ice cores, however, combined with geological and biological information, will allow this to be done in the future.