High-resolution isotopic evidence for a potential Saharan provenance of Greenland glacial dust

Han, Changhee; Do Hur, Soon; Han, Yeongcheol; Lee, Khanghyun; Hong, Sungmin; Erhardt, Tobias; Fischer, Hubertus; Svensson, Anders M.; Steffensen, Jørgen Peder; Vallelonga, Paul (2018). High-resolution isotopic evidence for a potential Saharan provenance of Greenland glacial dust. Scientific Reports, 8(1) Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/s41598-018-33859-0

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Dust concentrations in Greenland ice show pronounced glacial/interglacial variations with almost two orders of magnitude increase during the Last Glacial Maximum. Greenland glacial dust was previously sourced to two East Asian deserts: the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts. Here we report the first high-resolution Pb and Sr isotopic evidence for a significant Saharan dust influence in Greenland during the last glacial period, back to ~31 kyr ago, from the Greenland NEEM ice core. We find that during Greenland Stadials 3–5.1 (~31 to 23 kyr ago), the primary dust provenance was East Asia, as previously proposed. Subsequently, the Saharan isotopic signals emerge during Greenland Stadials 2.1a–2.1c (~22.6 to 14.7 kyr ago) and from the late Bølling-Allerød to the Younger Dryas periods (~13.6 to 12 kyr ago), coincident with increased aridity in the Sahara and efficient northward transport of dust during these cold periods. A mixing isotopic model proposes the Sahara as an important source, accounting for contribution to Greenland glacial dust of up to 50%, particularly during Greenland Stadial 2.1b and the late Bølling-Allerød to the Younger Dryas periods. Our findings provide new insights into climate-related dust provenance changes and essential paleoclimatic constraints on dust-climate feedbacks in northern high latitudes.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Erhardt, Tobias, Fischer, Hubertus

Subjects:

500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

2045-2322

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Hubertus Fischer

Date Deposited:

13 Jun 2019 15:53

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:27

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/s41598-018-33859-0

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.128731

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/128731

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