Peng, Haijun
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
Research article2024Peer reviewedOpen access
Tibetan Peat Records Global Major Explosive Volcanic Eruptions in the Holocene
Peng, Haijun; Enrico, Maxime; Zeng, Mengxiu; Hong, Bing; Wang, Jie; Fan, Baoxiang; Bishop, Kevin; Li, Chuxian; Yin, Runsheng; Bindler, Richard; Zhu, Wei
Abstract
Major explosive volcanic eruptions were important triggers of abrupt climate changes during the Holocene and crucial sources of Hg to the atmosphere, yet there remains limited understanding regarding the long-range transportation of this volcanic Hg and its imprint in natural archives. Here, we present a reconstruction of Holocene global volcanism based on the anomalies in Hg concentrations, accumulation fluxes, and Hg/C ratios in three high-resolution peat profiles spanning Eurasia. Our reconstruction reveals that the two Tibetan peat profiles recorded 33 major explosive volcanic eruptions (with 11 eruptions being synchronously detected), which correspond with a French Pyrenees peat record and sulfate anomalies in polar ice cores. Additionally, the major explosive volcanic eruptions recorded in the TP peat profiles coincided with abrupt decreases in solar irradiance during the Holocene, suggesting these eruptions might have had a greater global climate impact. Our results suggest the atmospheric transport of volcanic Hg within the Northern Hemisphere and underscore the significant role played by major explosive volcanic eruptions in precipitating abrupt global climate and environmental changes during the Holocene. This study has implications for deciphering the configuration of volcanic eruption seasons, locations, and magnitudes during the Holocene and aligning the chronology of peat deposits with ice cores.
Keywords
major volcanic eruption; volcanic aerosol injection; mercury; Tibetan Plateau; peatland; Holocene
Published in
Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres
2024, volume: 129, number: 22, article number: e2024JD041727
Publisher: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SLU Authors
Bishop, Kevin
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Climate Research
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD041727
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/139690