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New Zealand was among the last habitable places on earth to be colonized by humans1. Charcoal records indicate that wildfires were rare prior to colonization and widespread following the 13th- to 14th-century Māori settlement2, but the precise timing and magnitude of associated biomass-burning emissions are unknown1,3, as are effects on light-absorbing black carbon aerosol concentrations over the pristine Southern Ocean and Antarctica4. Here we used an array of well-dated Antarctic ice-core records to show that while black carbon deposition rates were stable over continental Antarctica during the past two millennia, they were approximately threefold higher over the northern Antarctic Peninsula during the past 700 years. Aerosol modelling5 demonstrates that the observed deposition could result only from increased emissions poleward of 40° S—implicating fires in Tasmania, New Zealand and Patagonia—but only New Zealand palaeofire records indicate coincident increases. Rapid deposition increases started in 1297 (±30 s.d.) in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, consistent with the late 13th-century Māori settlement and New Zealand black carbon emissions of 36 (±21 2 s.d.) Gg y−1 during peak deposition in the 16th century. While charcoal and pollen records suggest earlier, climate-modulated burning in Tasmania and southern Patagonia6,7, deposition in Antarctica shows that black carbon emissions from burning in New Zealand dwarfed other preindustrial emissions in these regions during the past 2,000 years, providing clear evidence of large-scale environmental effects associated with early human activities across the remote Southern Hemisphere. Antarctic ice-core records and atmospheric transport modelling used here show that the 13th-century rise of Māori culture in New Zealand led to a threefold increase of atmospheric black carbon.

New Zealand was among the last habitable places on earth to be colonized by humans

The Antarctic Peninsula has displayed significant climate change over recent decades. Understanding contemporaneous changes in accumulation is made difficult because the region's complex orography means that ice-core data are not necessarily representative of a wider area. In this paper, the patterns of regional spatial accumulation variability across the Antarctic Peninsula region are presented, based on an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis of European Centre for Medium Range Forecasts Reanalysis (ERA40) data over the 23-year period from 1979 through 2001. Annual and seasonal trends in the sign and strength of these patterns are identified, as is their relationship with mean sea level pressure, temperature and indices of large-scale circulation variability. The results reveal that the first pattern of accumulation variability on the Peninsula is primarily related to pressure in the circumpolar trough and the second pattern to temperature: together the two EOFs explain similar to 45-65% of the annual/seasonal accumulation. The strongest positive trend in an EOF occurs with EOF2 in the austral autumn March-April-May (MAM). This is highly correlated with the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) in this season, suggesting stronger westerly winds have caused an increase in orographic precipitation along the west Antarctic Peninsula. A significant correlation with ENSO occurs only in the winter EOF1, associated with blocking in the Bellingshausen Sea. Inter-annual ERA40 accumulation is shown to compare favourably with an ice core in the south of the Peninsula, but, for a variety of reasons, correlates poorly with accumulation as measured in an ice core from the northern tip. Opposite trends in accumulation at these two sites can be explained by the spatial pattern and trend of EOF2 in MAM and thus by recent changes in the SAM. The results of this study will aid in the understanding of temporal accumulation changes observed in the regional ice-core record. Copyright (C) 2007 Royal Meteorological Society.

Three ice cores and a set of snow pit samples collected on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, in 1979, 1981 and 1991 have been analyzed for water stable isotope content δD or δ18O (isotopic temperature) and major chemical species. A reliable and detailed chronological scale has been established first for the upper 24.5 m of water equivalent (1990–1943) where various data sets can be compared, then extended down to 59.5 m of water equivalent (1847) with the aid of seasonal variations and the sulphate peak reflecting the 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption. At James Ross Island, sea-salt aerosol is generally produced by ice-free marine surfaces during the summer months, although some winter sea-salt events have been observed. For the upper part of the core (1990–1943), correlations (positive or negative) were calculated between isotopic temperature, chloride content (a sea-salt indicator), sea-ice extent, regional atmospheric temperature changes and atmospheric circulation. The δD and chloride content correlation was then extended back to 1847, making it possible to estimate decadal sea-ice cover fluctuations over the study period. Our findings suggest that ice-core records from James Ross Island reflect the recent warming and sea-ice decrease trends observed in the Antarctic Peninsula area from the mid-1940s.

The fractionation of atmospheric sea-salt has been investigated by glaciochemical analysis of the sea-salt deposited on the snow covering the small ice cap of James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, at an elevation of 1640 m. The data show that, generally, but not always, the sea-salt deposited at this location most likely originates directly from seawater, as is the case at lower latitudes. It is found that the original chemical composition of the sea-salt aerosol is significantly modified, in particular by the reaction of sea-salt particles in the atmosphere with acid species. A ternary diagram (sodium, chloride, sulfate) is used to enlighten the involved modification processes. The study points out the frequent formation of HCl in the regional atmosphere.

A well-marked volcanic ash layer was found at 145.9 m depth in a 154.3 m ice core recovered in 1981 on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Ash composition analysis indicates that we are dealing with an eruption of the Deception Island volcano located some 200 km northwestward from James Ross Island. Regional lake sediments seem also to have recorded the eruption. Its date (some 350 years ago) has been determined precisely by comparison with a well-dated South Pole Station ice core. The strength and regional to global impact of the event are discussed. It is concluded it was most probably the largest eruption of this volcano over the studied time period. This exceptional layer was used to adjust the dating of the core.

A shallow firn core, recovered from the southern Patagonia ice cap (elevation 2680 m a.s.I.), has been analyzed for H stable isotope composition and for major soluble chemical compounds. The temperature measurement at 13.17 m depth (bottom of the core) shows that the ice cap is temperate. The chemical profiles indicate that some soluble impurities have been partly washed out by percolation, but seasonal deuterium content variations are relatively well preserved down to the bottom of the core, which allows the net accumulation rate of the site to be calculated (1.2 m water equivalent). The mean concentrations measured in the most recent year recorded (Cl−:4.85, nssSO42−: 0.65, NO3−:0.32, Na+:4.30, K+:0.64 and NH4+: 0.77, in μeq. 1−1) serve as a reference for the background chemical composition of precipitation at mid-southern latitudes under South Pacific meteorological conditions.

[1] This study uses ice core methanesulphonic acid (MSA) records from the Antarctic Peninsula, where temperatures have been warming faster than anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, to reconstruct the 20th century history of sea ice change in the adjacent Bellingshausen Sea. Using satellite‐derived sea ice and meteorological data, we show that ice core MSA records from this region are a reliable proxy for regional sea ice change, with years of increased winter sea ice extent recorded by increased ice core MSA concentrations. Our reconstruction suggests that the satellite‐observed sea ice decline in the Bellingshausen Sea during recent decades is part of a long‐term regional trend that has occurred throughout the 20th century. The long‐term perspective on sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea is consistent with evidence of 20th century warming on the Antarctic Peninsula and may reflect a progressive deepening of the Amundsen Sea Low due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and, more recently, stratospheric ozone depletion. As a first‐order estimate, our MSA‐based reconstruction suggests that sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea has retreated southward by ∼0.7° during the 20th century. Comparison with other 20th century sea ice observations, reconstructions, and model simulations provides a coherent picture of Antarctic sea ice decline during the 20th century, although with regional‐scale differences evident in the timing and magnitude of this sea ice decline. This longer‐term perspective contrasts with the small overall increase in Antarctic sea ice that is observed in post‐1979 satellite data.

A database of surface Antarctic snow isotopic composition is constructed using available measurements, with an estimate of data quality and local variability. Although more than 1000 locations are documented, the spatial coverage remains uneven with a majority of sites located in specific areas of East Antarctica. The database is used to analyze the spatial variations in snow isotopic composition with respect to geographical characteristics (elevation, distance to the coast) and climatic features (temperature, accumulation) and with a focus on deuterium excess. The capacity of theoretical isotopic, regional, and general circulation atmospheric models (including "isotopic" models) to reproduce the observed features and assess the role of moisture advection in spatial deuterium excess fluctuations is analyzed, Stable isotope analyses at LSCE have been funded by CEA, CNRS, ACI C3. Italian research was funded by National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). The calibration of the isotope–temperature relationship is part of the European Commission 6th PCRDT EPICA-MIS and French ANR PICC projects. This work is a contribution to the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), a joint European Science Foundation/European Commission scientific program, funded by the EU and by national contributions from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The main logistic support was provided by IPEV and PNRA (at Dome C) and AWI (at Dronning Maud Land)

A 400 year deuterium record has been obtained from a 154.3 m ice core drilled on Dalinger Dome (James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula). Based on a comparison between the isotope profile and the temperature data over the recent period (Aristarain et al, 1986), an interpretation is proposed in terms of temperature changes. The “warmest part” of this proxy record occurs around 1850 with, as a salient feature, a temperature decline of ∼ 2°C from that time up until present conditions. This feature, at odds with the long timescale warming trend recorded for both hemispheres over the same period, likely reflects a regional characteristic related to the lack of a high latitude/low latitude link in Southern hemisphere circulation patterns.

Crustal dust in the atmosphere impacts Earth's radiative forcing directly by modifying the radiation budget and affecting cloud nucleation and optical properties, and indirectly through ocean fertilization, which alters carbon sequestration. Increased dust in the atmosphere has been linked to decreased global air temperature in past ice core studies of glacial to interglacial transitions. We present a continuous ice core record of aluminum deposition during recent centuries in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, the most rapidly warming region of the Southern Hemisphere; such a record has not been reported previously. This record shows that aluminosilicate dust deposition more than doubled during the 20th century, coincident with the approximately 1 degrees C Southern Hemisphere warming: a pattern in parallel with increasing air temperatures, decreasing relative humidity, and widespread desertification in Patagonia and northern Argentina. These results have far-reaching implications for understanding the forces driving dust generation and impacts of changing dust levels on climate both in the recent past and future.

More than twenty years ago the Instituto Antartico Argentino initiated ice-core studies in the Antarctic Peninsula. It also carried out the first work of this type in the Southern Patagonia Icefield and preliminary investigations in the Argentine central Andes. Until recently, sample analyses were performed in two prestigious French laboratories in the frame of a joint cooperation. However, installation of the Laboratorio de Estratigrafia Glaciar y Geoquimica del Agua y de la Nieve, LEGAN (Laboratory of Glacier Stratigraphy and Water and Snow Geochemistry), in Mendoza, Argentina, has been recently finished and is equipped with the necessary facilities to develop glaciochemical determinations. Among our principal scientific results we mention the first isotopic-climatic reconstitution of the Antarctic Peninsula for the last 400 years. To investigate several millennia of high-resolution climatic and atmospheric fluctuations in this region we foresee completion, during the 2000/2001 austral summer, of an ice-core drilling to a depth of 350 m, initiated two years ago.

This article aims to give a comprehensive view of the distribution patterns for natural and artifical radionuclides over Antarctica. We focus this study on137Cs,210Pb and tritium. Applying various statistical methods, we show that the deposition of radionuclides reveals a structured distribution, although local drift redistribution and the snow-surface roughness disturb the representativeness of samples and produce a “noise” effect. The deposition of137Cs over Antarctica (885 TBq) represents 0.09% of the total deposition of this radionuclide in the world and the correlation between137Cs fluxes and accumulation shows two sub-populations. For the stations with a mean annual temperature above −21° C, a strong correlation is found, whereas the correlation is lower for locations with temperatures below −21° C. The flux of210Pb varies from 0.9 to 8.2 Bq m−1a−1 with values strongly correlated with the accumulation and a well-defined spatial structure. The same mechanism governs the deposition of artificial and natural tritium but it clearly differs from that of other radionuclides associated with particulate material. The “dry fall-out” accounts for between 60 and 80% of the total fall-out for the artificial radionuclides and around 40% for210Pb. This difference is likely related to a tropospheric fraction for210Pb. Despite its isolated location, the radioactive fall-out of artificial long-lived radionuclides over Antarctica has been ten times greater than for natural radionuclides.

A detailed climatic study of the Antarctic Peninsula from 1850 to 1980 has been carried out through the analysis of deuterium content in the snow layers of Dalinger Dome (James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula). It is based on the high correlation found between mean deuterium contents at this site and temperature data from stations within this region going back as far as April 1903 for the Argentine Orcadas station. The strong correlation between isotopes and temperatures first reveals a 1956 isotope reference for the region considered. Secondly, the isotope-temperature gradient is estimated at 4.5%. °C−1 for deuterium. After checking that the major temperature anomalies on the Antarctic Peninsula recorded since 1904 (according to available data) correspond to annual mean stable isotope peaks at Dalinger Dome, the amplitude of four prior anomalies are estimated in °C. Finally, a cooling of about 2 °C since 1850 is suggested for the region.

Basic glaciological measurements from the James Ross Island ice cap are presented, including mean annual accumulation and firn temperature. In addition to the well-known radioactivity levels of January 1955 and 1965 in Antarctic snow, two new radioactivity levels corresponding to January 1969 and January 1974 are used in determining the accumulation values. The measurements reveal certain climatic features of this ice cap.

James Ross Island (mean diameter 50 km) is located near the north-eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. An ice cap, covering nearly the entire island, rises to a height of ~1 600 m. Three summer expeditions with glaciological purposes were recently achieved on this ice cap by the Instituto Antártico Argentino, two of them with the scientific participation of the Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de I'Environnement, Grenoble. We present results of climatic and chemical investigations performed on recent snow layers dating back about 25 a. The studied samples were collected at different sites on the upper part of the ice dome. Detailed measurements (deuterium, oxygen 18 and total β activity) were performed on more than 1000 selected samples. The relationship between stable isotope and mean annual temperature fits very well with the one previously obtained in the Antarctic Peninsula. An ice core 22 m deep drilled on Dome Dalinqer (elevation 1600 m, mean annual temperature -15˚C) showed well-preserved seasonal variations in deuterium all along the profile, thus providing a yearly dating of the samples which was confirmed by β activity reference levels. The mean annual accumulation thus deduced is 500 kg m−2 between 1955 and 1979, with values significantly lower (30%) in the 1955–65 decade than in 1965–79. The same trend earlier observed in east and central parts of Antarctica thus appears to have a very large geographical extent. This well-dated core allows us to undertake a year-to-year comparison between isotopic and climatological data over the 1953–78 period. The mean annual values of the deuterium content are well correlated with the average surface temperature taken over the whole Antarctic Peninsula (δD = (3.4±2.0)T - (98±32)) These data and the experimentally derived δD/δ180 relationship obtained on James Ross Island allow us to deduce a δ180 temperature gradient of 0.44‰°C−1. This low value is discussed in view of a new isotopic model taking into account the partial removal of precipitation and the possible variation of the oceanic source. James Ross Island thus appears suitable as a potential site for reconstructing past climatic changes of the Antarctic Peninsula beyond existing data. Contamination-free techniques were used for sampling and analysing the snow samples. Na, K, Ca, and Al (by atomic absorption), H+ (by titrimetric measurements), SO4 2- and NO3 − (by ion chromatography), and conductivity were determined on more than 100 samples collected in a 4.3 m deep pit. Some of these parameters were also measured on ice-core samples or additional pit samples. Snow impurities are contributed by different aerosol sources: sea salt, continental particles and the small-size particles produced by the conversion of various atmospheric gases. The relative importance of these sources has been estimated. James Ross snow was found always to be slightly acid (1 to 10 μEquiv. l−1 of H+, mainly as sulphuric acid). Nitrate concentrations are much smaller (0.4 μEquiv. l−1 ). Strong seasonal variations are observed for H2SO4 deposition, probably in relation to its formation in the Antarctic atmosphere. Sea-salt deposition exhibits also seasonal variations which can be correlated with storm frequency in the Weddell Sea area. The continental aerosol contribution is weak as indicated by very low Al values. The influence of Deception Island volcanism on the regional aerosol chemistry is examined. A marked increase of snow acidity was detected after the 1967 eruption of this volcano, but no ash layers were observed. The strong variations of the conductivity of melt water are interpreted: it is shown that this parameter is not representative of the extent of sea ice

Reconstruction of the past climate of the Antarctic Peninsula is of special interest because it represents a possible link between the conditions that predominated over the Antarctic continent and those over South America, only about 1000 km away. From a detailed isotopic study on a core drilled on James Ross Island (64°12′S, 57°40′W), including a comparison with the Orcadas temperature record (which has been available since 1904), we have recently examined the climatic changes which have occurred in this region over the last 130 years (Aristarain and others 1986). We have now extended this isotope record back to about A.D. 1600 (dating is obtained from a glaciological model). A striking feature of the resulting climatic curve is the significant cooling, estimated at about 2º C, which has been observed since the turn of the century, in comparison with the warmest period of the record (around A.D. 1850). This feature, which is at odds with Northern Hemisphere temperature data, will be examined in the context of factors affecting the Antarctic Peninsula climate. These include sea-ice extent, and the relative influence of a maritime climate in the west and of a continental climate in the east, and the generally high climatic sensitivity theoretically expected in these ice-margin areas. The whole climatic curve will also be compared with other Antarctic and Southern Hemisphere records.

Major volcanic eruptions are able to spread large amounts of sulfuric acid all over the world. Acid layers of volcanic origin were detected for the first time a few years ago by Hammer in Greenland ice. The present paper deals with volcanic deposits in the Antarctic. The different methods that can be used to find volcanic acid deposits in snow and ice cores are compared: electrical conductivity, sulfate, and acidity measurements. Numerous snow and ice samples collected at several Antarctic locations were analyzed. The results reveal that the two major volcanic events recorded by H2SO4, fallout in Antarctic ice over the last century are the eruptions of Krakatoa (1883) and Agung (1963), both located at equatorial latitudes in the southern hemisphere. The volcanic signals are found to be particularly well defined at central Antarctic locations apparently in relation to the low snow accumulation rates in these areas. It is demonstrated that volcanic sulfuric acid in snow is not even partially neutralized by ammonia. The possible influence of Antarctic volcanic activity on snow chemistry is also discussed, using the three recent eruptions of the Deception Island volcano as examples. Only one of them seems to have had a significant effect on the chemistry of snow at a location 200 km from this volcano. It is concluded that Antarctic volcanic ice records are less complicated than Greenland records because of the limited number of volcanos in the southern hemisphere and the apparently higher signal to background ratio for acidity in Antarctica than in Greenland.

More than 400 firn samples were collected at an altitude of 1660 m on the small ice sheet covering James Ross Island (northeastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula). Chemical analysis of these samples provides information about the marine background aerosol composition in the area. The samples cover the years 1975–1979 (pit samples) and the last 15 years (firn core samples). Major impurities (Na, K, Ca, Al, H, SO4, and NO3) were determined by using flameless atomic absorption, neutron activation, acid titration, or ion chromatography. Aerosols are contributed mainly by the surrounding ocean; however, secondary aerosol deposition (H2SO4 and HNO3) is also important. All samples were found to be slightly acidic (pH generally in the range 5–6). Strong seasonal variations (maximum values in summer) are found in the H2SO4 deposition. A photochemical mechanism is proposed to explain the local production of H2SO4 from gaseous marine sulfur compounds. From these results, a yearly deposition of ∼0.13 Tg of H2SO4 is calculated for the entire Antarctic continent.