title: Quantifying gas emissions from the "Millennium Eruption" of Paektu volcano, Democratic People's Republic of Korea/China.
abstract: Paektu volcano (Changbaishan) is a rhyolitic caldera that straddles the border between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and China. Its most recent large eruption was the Millennium Eruption (ME; 23 km3dense rock equivalent) circa 946 CE, which resulted in the release of copious magmatic volatiles (H2O, CO2, sulfur, and halogens). Accurate quantification of volatile yield and composition is critical in assessing volcanogenic climate impacts but is challenging, particularly for events before the satellite era. We use a geochemical technique to quantify volatile composition and upper bounds to yields for the ME by examining trends in incompatible trace and volatile element concentrations in crystal-hosted melt inclusions. We estimate that the ME could have emitted as much as 45 Tg of S to the atmosphere. This is greater than the quantity of S released by the 1815 eruption of Tambora, which contributed to the "year without a summer." Our maximum gas yield estimates place the ME among the strongest emitters of climate-forcing gases in the Common Era. However, ice cores from Greenland record only a relatively weak sulfate signal attributed to the ME. We suggest that other factors came into play in minimizing the glaciochemical signature. This paradoxical case in which high S emissions do not result in a strong glacial sulfate signal may present a way forward in building more generalized models for interpreting which volcanic eruptions have produced large climate impacts.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Kayla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iacovino
authors.affiliation: Earthquake Administration, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ju-Song
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3380-6425
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sisson
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0464-7779
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lowenstern
authors.affiliation: State Academy of Science, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ri
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuk-Hun
authors.affiliation: Earthquake Administration, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jong-Nam
authors.affiliation: Earthquake Administration, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kun-Ho
authors.affiliation: Earthquake Administration, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song-Hwan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K.
authors.forename: Clive
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4506-7260
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oppenheimer
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, U.K.
authors.forename: James O S
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9194-8689
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, King's College London, London, U.K.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3596-5294
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: Environmental Education Media Project, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kosima W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Pyongyang International Information Centre of New Technology and Economy, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ryu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kum-Ran
keywords: Millennium Eruption; Paektu; Volcanic gas emissions; melt inclusions; volatiles