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The article discusses the use of tritium (3H) and cesium (137Cs) as temporal markers in ice cores extracted from temperate glaciers. We present a complete tritium profile for a 46 m ice core drilled from the Adamello Glacier, a temperate glacier in the Italian Alps, and compare it to the 137Cs profile from the same ice core. Our analysis reveals tritium contamination between 19 and 32 m of depth, which can be attributed to the global radioactive fallout caused by atmospheric nuclear-bomb testing that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. Results show that the radioactive peak associated with 1963 does not occur at the same depth for both 3H and 137Cs; instead, the tritium peak is 1.5 m above the cesium one. Our hypothesis is that this misalignment is caused by meltwater-induced post-depositional processes that affect 137Cs, which is more sensitive to percolation than 3H. The total inventory of 137Cs in this ice core is also among the lowest ever reported, providing additional evidence that the presence of meltwater has affected the distribution of this radionuclide within the ice. In contrast, the total tritium inventory is comparable to what is reported in the literature, making it a more reliable temporal marker for temperate glaciers.

Thanks to its insolubility, mineral dust is considered a stable proxy in polar ice cores. With this study we show that the Talos Dome ice core (TALDICE, Ross Sea sector of East Antarctica) displays evident and progressive signs of post-depositional processes affecting the mineral dust record below 1000 m deep. We apply a suite of established and cutting-edge techniques to investigate the properties of dust in TALDICE, ranging from concentration and grain size to elemental composition and Fe mineralogy. Results show that through acidic/oxidative weathering, the conditions of deep ice at Talos Dome promote the dissolution of specific minerals and the englacial formation of others, affecting primitive dust features. The expulsion of acidic atmospheric species from ice grains and their concentration in localized environments is likely the main process responsible for englacial reactions. Deep ice can be seen as a “geochemical reactor” capable of fostering complex reactions which involve both soluble and insoluble impurities. Fe-bearing minerals can efficiently help in exploring such transformations.

Dating glaciers is an arduous yet essential task in ice core studies, which becomes even more challenging when the glacier is experiencing mass loss in the accumulation zone as result of climate warming, leading to an older ice surface of unknown age. In this context, we dated a 46 m deep ice core from the Central Italian Alps retrieved in 2016 from the Adamello glacier in the locality Pian di Neve (3100 m a.s.l.). Here we present a timescale for the core obtained by integrating results from the analyses of the radionuclides 210Pb and 137Cs with annual layer counting derived from pollen and refractory black carbon concentrations. Our results clearly indicate that the surface of the glacier is older than the drilling date of 2016 by about 20 years and that the 46 m ice core reaches back to around 1944. For the period of 1995–2016 the mass balance at the drilling site (former accumulation zone) decreased on average of about 1 m w.e. a−1 compared to the period 1963–1986. Despite the severe mass loss affecting this glacier even in the former accumulation zone, we show that it is possible to obtain a reliable timescale for such a temperate glacier using black carbon and pollen seasonality in combination with radionuclides 210Pb and 137Cs. Our results are therefore very encouraging and open new perspectives on the potential of such glaciers as informative palaeoarchives.

A deeper understanding of past atmospheric circulation variability in the Central Andes is a high-priority topic in paleoclimatology mainly because of the necessity to validate climate models used to predict future precipitation trends and to develop mitigation and/or adaptation strategies for future climate change scenarios in this region. Within this context, we here investigate an 18-year firn core drilled at Nevado Illimani in order to interpret its mineral dust record in relation to seasonal processes, in particular atmospheric circulation and deep convection. The core was dated by annual layer counting based on seasonal oscillations of dust, calcium, and stable isotopes. Geochemical and mineralogical data show that dust is regionally sourced in winter and summer. During austral summer (wet season), an increase in the relative proportion of giant dust particles (∅>20 µm) is observed, in association with oscillations of stable isotope records (δD, δ18O). It seems that at Nevado Illimani both the deposition of dust and the isotopic signature of precipitation are influenced by atmospheric deep convection, which is also related to the total amount of precipitation in the area. This hypothesis is corroborated by regional meteorological data. The interpretation of giant particle and stable isotope records suggests that downdrafts due to convective activity promote turbulent conditions capable of suspending giant particles in the vicinity of Nevado Illimani. Giant particles and stable isotopes, when considered together, can be therefore used as a new proxy for obtaining information about deep convective activity in the past.

Cryoconite is rich in natural and artificial radioactivity, but a discussion about its ability to accumulate radionuclides is lacking. A characterization of cryoconite from two Alpine glaciers is presented here. Results confirm that cryoconite is significantly more radioactive than the matrices usually adopted for the environmental monitoring of radioactivity, such as lichens and mosses, with activity concentrations exceeding 10 000 Bq kg−1 for single radionuclides. This makes cryoconite an ideal matrix to investigate the deposition and occurrence of radioactive species in glacial environments. In addition, cryoconite can be used to track environmental radioactivity sources. We have exploited atomic and activity ratios of artificial radionuclides to identify the sources of the anthropogenic radioactivity accumulated in our samples. The signature of cryoconite from different Alpine glaciers is compatible with the stratospheric global fallout and Chernobyl accident products. Differences are found when considering other geographic contexts. A comparison with data from literature shows that Alpine cryoconite is strongly influenced by the Chernobyl fallout, while cryoconite from other regions is more impacted by events such as nuclear test explosions and satellite reentries. To explain the accumulation of radionuclides in cryoconite, the glacial environment as a whole must be considered, and particularly the interaction between ice, meltwater, cryoconite and atmospheric deposition. We hypothesize that the impurities originally preserved into ice and mobilized with meltwater during summer, including radionuclides, are accumulated in cryoconite because of their affinity for organic matter, which is abundant in cryoconite. In relation to these processes, we have explored the possibility of exploiting radioactivity to date cryoconite.

The input of mineral dust from arid regions impacts snow optical properties. The induced albedo reduction generally alters the melting dynamics of the snowpack, resulting in earlier snowmelt. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of dust depositions on the melting dynamics of snowpack at a high-elevation site (2160 m) in the European Alps (Torgnon, Aosta Valley, Italy) during three hydrological years (2013–2016). These years were characterized by several Saharan dust events that deposited significant amounts of mineral dust in the European Alps. We quantify the shortening of the snow season due to dust deposition by comparing observed snow depths and those simulated with the Crocus model accounting, or not, for the impact of impurities. The model was run and tested using meteorological data from an automated weather station. We propose the use of repeated digital images for tracking dust deposition and resurfacing in the snowpack. The good agreement between model prediction and digital images allowed us to propose the use of an RGB index (i.e. snow darkening index – SDI) for monitoring dust on snow using images from a digital camera. We also present a geochemical characterization of dust reaching the Alpine chain during spring in 2014. Elements found in dust were classified as a function of their origin and compared with Saharan sources. A strong enrichment in Fe was observed in snow containing Saharan dust. In our case study, the comparison between modelling results and observations showed that impurities deposited in snow anticipated the disappearance of snow up to 38 d a out of a total 7 months of typical snow duration. This happened for the season 2015–2016 that was characterized by a strong dust deposition event. During the other seasons considered here (2013–2014 and 2014–2015), the snow melt-out date was 18 and 11 d earlier, respectively. We conclude that the effect of the Saharan dust is expected to reduce snow cover duration through the snow-albedo feedback. This process is known to have a series of further hydrological and phenological feedback effects that should be characterized in future research.

A first assessment of the main climatic drivers that modulate the tree-ring width (RW) and maximum latewood density (MXD) along the Italian Peninsula and northeastern Sicily was performed using 27 forest sites, which include conifers (RW and MXD) and broadleaves (only RW). Tree-ring data were compared using the correlation analysis of the monthly and seasonal variables of temperature, precipitation and standardized precipitation index (SPI, used to characterize meteorological droughts) against each species-specific site chronology and against the highly sensitive to climate (HSTC) chronologies (based on selected indexed individual series). We find that climate signals in conifer MXD are stronger and more stable over time than those in conifer and broadleaf RW. In particular, conifer MXD variability is directly influenced by the late summer (August, September) temperature and is inversely influenced by the summer precipitation and droughts (SPI at a timescale of 3 months). The MXD sensitivity to August–September (AS) temperature and to summer drought is mainly driven by the latitudinal gradient of summer precipitation amounts, with sites in the northern Apennines showing stronger climate signals than sites in the south. Conifer RW is influenced by the temperature and drought of the previous summer, whereas broadleaf RW is more influenced by summer precipitation and drought of the current growing season. The reconstruction of the late summer temperatures for the Italian Peninsula for the past 300 years, based on the HSTC chronology of conifer MXD, shows a stable model performance that underlines periods of climatic cooling (and likely also wetter conditions) in 1699, 1740, 1814, 1914 and 1938, and follows well the variability of the instrumental record and of other tree-ring-based reconstructions in the region. Considering a 20-year low-pass-filtered series, the reconstructed temperature record consistently deviates

In this paper we present a method to detect airflow through ice caves and to quantify the corresponding airflow speeds by the use of temperature loggers. The time series of temperature observations at different loggers are cross-correlated. The time shift of best correlation corresponds to the travel time of the air and is used to derive the airflow speed between the loggers. We apply the method to test data observed inside Schellenberger Eishöhle (ice cave). The successful determination of airflow speeds depends on the existence of distinct temperature variations during the time span of interest. Moreover the airflow speed is assumed to be constant during the period used for the correlation analysis. Both requirements limit the applicability of the correlation analysis to determine instantaneous airflow speeds. Nevertheless the method is very helpful to characterize the general patterns of air movement and their slow temporal variations. The correlation analysis assumes a linear dependency between the correlated data. The good correlation we found for our test data confirms this assumption. We therefore in a second step estimate temperature biases and scale factors for the observed temperature variations by a least-squares adjustment. The observed phenomena, a warming and an attenuation of temperature variations, depending on the distance the air traveled inside the cave, are explained by a mixing of the inflowing air with the air inside the cave. Furthermore we test the significance of the determined parameters by a standard F test and study the sensitivity of the procedure to common manipulations of the original observations like smoothing. In the end we will give an outlook on possible applications and further development of this method.

Mineral dust plays an important role in the climate system by interacting with radiation, clouds, and biogeochemical cycles. In addition, natural archives show that the dust cycle experienced variability in the past in response to global and local climate change. The compilation of the DIRTMAP (Dust Indicators and Records from Terrestrial and MArine Palaeoenvironments) paleodust data sets in the last 2 decades provided a benchmark for paleoclimate models that include the dust cycle, following a time slice approach. We propose an innovative framework to organize a paleodust data set that builds on the positive experience of DIRTMAP and takes into account new scientific challenges by providing a concise and accessible data set of temporally resolved records of dust mass accumulation rates and particle grain size distributions. We consider data from ice cores, marine sediments, loess–paleosol sequences, lake sediments, and peat bogs for this compilation, with a temporal focus on the Holocene period. This global compilation allows the investigation of the potential, uncertainties, and confidence level of dust mass accumulation rate reconstructions and highlights the importance of dust particle size information for accurate and quantitative reconstructions of the dust cycle. After applying criteria that help to establish that the data considered represent changes in dust deposition, 45 paleodust records have been identified, with the highest density of dust deposition data occurring in the North Atlantic region. Although the temporal evolution of dust in the North Atlantic appears consistent across several cores and suggests that minimum dust fluxes are likely observed during the early to mid-Holocene period (6000–8000 years ago), the magnitude of dust fluxes in these observations is not fully consistent, suggesting that more work needs to be done to synthesize data sets for the Holocene. Based on the data compilation, we used the Community Earth System Model to estimate the mass balance of and variability in the global dust cycle during the Holocene, with dust loads ranging from 17.2 to 20.8 Tg between 2000 and 10 000 years ago and with a minimum in the early to mid-Holocene (6000–8000 years ago).

Central East Antarctic ice cores preserve stratigraphic records of mineral dust originating from remote sources in the Southern Hemisphere, and represent useful indicators of climatic variations on glacial-interglacial time scales. The peripheries of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, where ice-free areas with the potential to emit dust exist, have been less explored from this point of view. Here, we present a new profile of dust deposition flux and grain size distributions from an ice core drilled at Talos Dome (TALDICE, Northern Victoria Land, East Antarctica), where there is a significant input of dust from proximal Antarctic ice-free areas. We analyze dust and stable water isotopes variations from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Late Holocene, and compare them to the EPICA Dome C profiles from central East Antarctica. The smaller glacial-interglacial variations at Talos Dome compared to Dome C and a distinctive decreasing trend during the Holocene characterize the TALDICE dust profile. By deciphering the composite dust signal from both remote and local sources, we show the potential of this combined proxy of source activity and atmospheric transport to give information on both regional and larger spatial scales. In particular, we show how a regional signal, which we relate to the deglaciation history of the Ross Sea embayment, can be superimposed to the broader scale glacial-interglacial variability that characterizes other Antarctic sites.