6. Late quaternary interglacials in East Antarctica from ice-core dust records

Abstract Aeolian dust records from deep East Antarctic ice cores evidence extremely low dust fluxes during the last five interglacials (10 to 25 times lower than in glacial periods), related to reduced primary production and mobilization on the Southern Hemisphere continents, to changes in atmospheric transport and hydrological cycle. The Sr-Nd isotope fingerprint of aeolian dust in Antarctica suggests a dominant southern South America provenance during Quaternary glacial times, but the first geochemical data for Stage 5.5 and the Holocene presented in this work show significant differences and open the possibility for a different source mixing. Dust-size variability in the EPICA-Dome C ice core suggests shorter transport time for dust or more direct air mass penetration to the site during interglacials with respect to cold periods and a clear multisecular scale mode of atmospheric circulation variability during the Holocene.