Volcanic triggering of late Pliocene glaciation: evidence from the flux of volcanic glass and ice-rafted debris to the North Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Mass accumulation rates (MAR) of different components of North Pacific deep-sea sediment provide detailed information about the timing of the onset of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation that occurred at 2.65 Ma. An increase in explosive volcanism in the Kamchatka–Kurile and Aleutian arcs occurred at this same time, suggesting a link between volcanism and glaciation. Sediments recovered by piston-coring techniques during ODP Leg 145 provide a unique opportunity to undertake a detailed test of this possibility. Here we use volcanic glass as a proxy for explosive volcanism and ice-rafted debris (IRD) as a proxy for glaciation. The MAR of both glass and IRD increase markedly at 2.65 Ma. Further, the flux of the volcanic glass increased just prior to the flux of ice-rafted material, suggesting that the cooling resulting from explosive volcanic eruptions may have been the ultimate trigger for the mid-Pliocene glacial intensification.