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Influence of Patagonian glaciers on Antarctic dust deposition during the last glacial period

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 281–285 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Ice cores provide a record of changes in dust flux to Antarctica, which is thought to reflect changes in atmospheric circulation and environmental conditions in dust source areas1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Isotopic tracers suggest that South America is the dominant source of the dust10,11,12, but it is unclear what led to the variable deposition of dust at concentrations 20–50 times higher than present in glacial-aged ice8,9. Here we characterize the age and composition of Patagonian glacial outwash sediments, to assess the relationship between the Antarctic dust record from Dome C (refs 9, 13) and Patagonian glacial fluctuations14,15,16 for the past 80,000 years. We show that dust peaks in Antarctica coincide with periods in Patagonia when rivers of glacial meltwater deposited sediment directly onto easily mobilized outwash plains. No dust peaks were noted when the glaciers instead terminated directly into pro-glacial lakes. We thus propose that the variable sediment supply resulting from Patagonian glacial fluctuations may have acted as an on/off switch for Antarctic dust deposition. At the last glacial termination, Patagonian glaciers quickly retreated into lakes, which may help explain why the deglacial decline in Antarctic dust concentrations preceded the main phase of warming, sea-level rise and reduction in Southern Hemisphere sea-ice extent13.

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Figure 1: Location and isotopic composition of late-glacial lake sediments from Patagonia.
Figure 2: Glacier limits marked by moraines and outwash plains, Patagonia.
Figure 3: Glacial stages in Patagonia compared with Antarctic ice cores.

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Acknowledgements

We thank for financial support: NERC, Royal Society, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, British Antarctic Survey, FONDECYT 1060020, EU Marie Curie Fellowship; and for laboratory support: C. Bryant and NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory, A. Hanley (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University) and M. Greaves (Cambridge University). P. Biscaye, T. Crowley, B. Delmonte, H. Elderfield, T. Hoey, R. Purves and E. Wolff were encouraging and insightful.

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Author notes

  1. Aloys J.-M. Bory

    Present address: Present address: UMR GEOSYSTEMES, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New York 10964, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, UK

    David E. Sugden & Andrew S. Hein

  2. School of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

    Robert D. McCulloch

  3. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    Aloys J.-M. Bory

Authors
  1. David E. Sugden
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  2. Robert D. McCulloch
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  3. Aloys J.-M. Bory
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  4. Andrew S. Hein
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Contributions

All authors contributed equally to the paper and in the following ways: ice cores and dust analyses (A.J.-M.B.), chronology and palaeoclimate of Patagonia (R.D.M.), glacial geomorphology in Patagonia (D.E.S., A.S.H.)

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to David E. Sugden or Aloys J.-M. Bory.

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Sugden, D., McCulloch, R., Bory, AM. et al. Influence of Patagonian glaciers on Antarctic dust deposition during the last glacial period. Nature Geosci 2, 281–285 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo474

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