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Chemical Composition of Ice Containing Tephra Layers in the Byrd Station Ice Core, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Julie M. Palais  and
Philip R. Kyle
Julie M. Palais
Affiliation:
Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 USA
Philip R. Kyle
Affiliation:
Department of Geoscience, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico 87801 USA
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Abstract

The chemical composition of ice containing tephra (volcanic ash) layers in 22 sections of the Byrd Station ice core was examined to determine if the volcanic eruptions affected the chemical composition of the atmosphere and precipitation in the vicinity of Byrd Station. The liquid conductivity, acidity, sulfate, nitrate, aluminum, and sodium concentrations of ice samples deposited before, during, and after the deposition of the tephra layers were analyzed. Ice samples that contain tephra layers have, on average, about two times more sulfate and three to four times more aluminum than nonvolcanic ice samples. The acidity of ice samples associated with tephra layers is lowered by hydrolysis of silicate glass and minerals. Average nitrate, sodium, and conductivity are the same in all samples. Because much of the sulfur and chlorine originally associated with these eruptions may have been scavenged by ash particles, the atmospheric residence time of these volatiles would have been minimized. Therefore the eruptions probably had only a small effect on the composition of the Antarctic atmosphere and a negligible effect on local or global climate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , November 1988 , pp. 315 - 330
Copyright
University of Washington

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