title: Proxies and measurement techniques for mineral dust in Antarctic ice cores.
abstract: To improve quantitative interpretation of ice core aeolian dust records, a systematic methodological comparison was made. This involved methods for water-insoluble particle counting (Coulter counter and laser-sensing particle detector), soluble ion analysis (ion chromatography and continuous flow analysis), elemental analysis (inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy at pH 1 and after full acid digestion), and water-insoluble elemental analysis (proton induced X-ray emission). Antarctic ice core samples covering the last deglaciation from the EPICA Dome C (EDC) and the EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) cores were used. All methods correlate very well among each other, but the ratios of glacial age to Holocene concentrations, which are typically a factor approximately 100, differ between the methods by up to a factor of 2 with insoluble particles showing the largest variability. The recovery of ICP-MS measurements depends on the digestion method and is differentfor different elements and during different climatic periods. EDC and EDML samples have similar dust composition, which suggests a common dust source or a common mixture of sources for the two sites. The analyzed samples further reveal a change of dust composition during the last deglaciation.
authors.affiliation: Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany. Urs.Ruth@awi.de
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ruth
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barbante
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bigler
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Delmonte
authors.forename: Hubertus
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gabrielli
authors.forename: Vania
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gaspari
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: Valter
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.forename: Jean-Robert
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Udisti
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wagenbach
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wegner
authors.forename: Eric W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Wolff