Science Alert March 20, 2022
Large volcanic eruptions occurring in the last glacial period can be detected by their accompanying sulfuric acid deposition in continuous ice cores. Using such data an international team of researchers (Demark, Switzerland, Italy, UK, Canada) estimated the emission strength, frequency and the climatic forcing of large volcanic eruptions that occurred during the second half of the last glacial period and the early Holocene epoch. Due to limited data resolution and large variability in the sulfate background signal, they identified 1113 volcanic eruptions in Greenland and 737 eruptions in Antarctica within the 51 kyr period. They found the frequency of volcanic eruptions to be rather constant and comparable to that of recent times. For Antarctica, the deglacial period cannot be distinguished from other periods. This confirms the suggestion that the isostatic unloading of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) ice sheets may be related to the enhanced NH volcanic activity…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Comparison of the number of volcanic eruptions per millennium detected in (a) Antarctic and (b) Greenland ice cores… Credit: Clim. Past, 18, 485–506, 2022Â