TY - JOUR
T1 - Variations in atmospheric sulphate recorded in stalagmites by synchrotron mirco-XRF and XANES analyses
AU - Frisia, S
AU - Borsato, A
AU - Fairchild, Ian
AU - Susini, J
PY - 2005/7/15
Y1 - 2005/7/15
N2 - We report here the first speleothem time-series of the variability of sulphate, a species whose abundance in catchments is strongly influenced by atmospheric anthropogenic and volcanic sources. Annually-resolved archives of S, Mg, Si and P were generated by applying synchrotron radiation micro X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to two speleothems from different sites in northern Italy. X-ray absorption-edge spectrometry proves that the S is in the form of sulphate and XRF mapping demonstrates that S is within calcite and enriched zones are predominantly as layers. A post-1850 A.D. record from the Ernesto cave shows a substantial rise in sulphate, interpreted as reflecting the largely anthropogenically-forced variation of sulphate of the atmospheric boundary layer, moderated by some ecosystem storage. Analysis of the circa 5.2 to circa 5.0 ka interval of a speleothem from Savi cave, where ecosystem retention of S is likely to have been minimal, shows a spiky sulphate record, resembling that of ice cores. A series of sulphate peaks suggest that multiple volcanic sulphate aerosol emissions at that time. This probably enhanced summer temperature cooling thus favouring the preservation of the human mummy of Neolithic-Copper age, the "Iceman" on the watershed between Italy and Austria. Both examples illustrate the power of speleothems to record atmospheric sulphate variability. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.
AB - We report here the first speleothem time-series of the variability of sulphate, a species whose abundance in catchments is strongly influenced by atmospheric anthropogenic and volcanic sources. Annually-resolved archives of S, Mg, Si and P were generated by applying synchrotron radiation micro X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to two speleothems from different sites in northern Italy. X-ray absorption-edge spectrometry proves that the S is in the form of sulphate and XRF mapping demonstrates that S is within calcite and enriched zones are predominantly as layers. A post-1850 A.D. record from the Ernesto cave shows a substantial rise in sulphate, interpreted as reflecting the largely anthropogenically-forced variation of sulphate of the atmospheric boundary layer, moderated by some ecosystem storage. Analysis of the circa 5.2 to circa 5.0 ka interval of a speleothem from Savi cave, where ecosystem retention of S is likely to have been minimal, shows a spiky sulphate record, resembling that of ice cores. A series of sulphate peaks suggest that multiple volcanic sulphate aerosol emissions at that time. This probably enhanced summer temperature cooling thus favouring the preservation of the human mummy of Neolithic-Copper age, the "Iceman" on the watershed between Italy and Austria. Both examples illustrate the power of speleothems to record atmospheric sulphate variability. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.
KW - synchrotron radiation
KW - stalagmites
KW - sulphate
KW - micro X-ray fluorescence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=21344455314&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.03.026
DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.03.026
M3 - Article
VL - 235
SP - 729
EP - 740
JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
ER -