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Article

Increased North Atlantic dust deposition linked to Holocene Icelandic glacier fluctuations

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Citation

Stewart H, Bradwell T, Bullard J, McCulloch RD & Millar I (2022) Increased North Atlantic dust deposition linked to Holocene Icelandic glacier fluctuations. Holocene. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221131697

Abstract
Mineral dust concentrations are coupled to climate over glacial-interglacial cycles with increased dust deposition occurring during major cold phases over the last ~100?ka. Holocene records suggest considerable spatial and temporal variability in the magnitude, frequency and timing of dust peaks that reflects regional or local drivers of dust emissions and transport. Here, we present stratigraphical, geochemical and isotopic evidence for dust deposition from two high-resolution peat sequences 200?km apart in northern Scotland spanning the last c. 8200?years. εNd isotope data suggest the dominant minerogenic dust source switches between a low latitude (likely Saharan) and a high latitude, Icelandic source. Marked peaks in increased minerogenic dust deposition at: c. 5.4–5.1, 4.0–3.9, 2.8–2.6, 1.0 and 0.3?ka BP occur against a backdrop of low dust deposition during the mid-Holocene (c. 5.0–4.0?ka BP) and increased background levels of dust during the neoglacial period (<4.0?ka BP). These dust peaks coincide with periods of glacial advance in Iceland and heightened storminess in the North Atlantic. Isotope data for additional dust peaks at c. 1.0 and 0.7?ka BP and the last ~50?years suggest these reflect increased dust from the Sahara associated with aridity and land-use change in North Africa during the Late-Holocene, and modern anthropogenic sources. This work highlights the complexity of Holocene records of dust deposition in the North Atlantic and emphasises the role of dynamic sub-Polar glaciers and their meltwater systems as a significant dust source.

Keywords
palaeoclimates; peat archives; radiogenic isotopes; Scotland; tephrochronology

Notes
Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online

Journal
Holocene

StatusEarly Online
Funders
Publication date online01/11/2022
Date accepted by journal23/09/2022
URL
PublisherSAGE Publications
ISSN0959-6836
eISSN1477-0911

People (1)

Dr Tom Bradwell

Dr Tom Bradwell

Senior Lecturer, Biological and Environmental Sciences

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