The Volcanic Record of Antarctic Ice Cores: Preliminary Results and Potential for Future Investigations

Abstract

Occurrences of tephra layers in four ice cores from Antarctica are reviewed. A new tephra, informally named the Vostok tephra, is described from a depth of 100.85 m in an ice core from Vostok station. Ice associated with four tephra layers at depths between 1390 and 1450 m in the Byrd station ice core shows increased levels of sulfate and nitrate which correlate well with peaks in particle concentrations. High levels of sulfate and nitrate are also associated with the Vostok tephra. Tephra offer great potential as stratigraphic markers and should be useful in providing time planes as well as assisting in correlation between widely spaced ice cores.