Trace elements and Pb isotope records in Dome C (East Antarctica) ice over the past 800,000 years

Abstract

Trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th and U) and Pb isotopic compositions have been determined in various sections from the EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) Dome C ice core, covering the period from ~533 kyr BP to ~800 kyr BP, by inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), respectively. Our data enable us to extend the previous EDC records of trace elements and Pb isotopes to the full record of ~800 kyr from the Holocene back to Marine Isotopic Stage. We here discuss the EDC records of Ba, Rb, Mo, Sb, Cd, Tl, Bi and Pb isotopes. Crustal elements such as Ba and Rb show well defined variations in concentrations in relation to climatic conditions with lower values during the interglacial periods and much higher values during the coldest periods of the last eight climatic cycles, while volcanogenic Cd, Tl and Bi show a less pronounced relationship between concentrations and climatic conditions. The isotopic signatures of Pb suggest that changes in the provenance of dust reaching the East Antarctic Plateau from Potential Source Areas have occurred during the interglacial periods before the MBE. Our data suggest that the main factors affecting the deposition fluxes and sources of natural trace elements over Antarctica are most likely linked with a progressiveore, covering the period from ~533 kyr BP to ~800 kyr BP, by inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), respectively. Our data enable us to extend the previous EDC records of trace elements and Pb isotopes to the full record of ~800 kyr from the Holocene back to Marine Isotopic Stage. We here discuss the EDC records of Ba, Rb, Mo, Sb, Cd, Tl, Bi and Pb isotopes. Crustal elements such as Ba and Rb show well defined variations in concentrations in relation to climatic conditions with lower values during