Abstract:

Sulfuric acid aerosols from volcanic eruptions are the important cause of climate change. These aerosols can be transported over long distances and eventually are deposited on polar ice sheets where they are preserved in the snow strata. Several detection methods of volcanic signals in polar ice cores have been developed according to the characteristics of volcanic aerosols. And volcanic records have been obtained from ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland. These volcanic records have provided valuable information on identifying stratospheric eruptions, dating ice cores and investigating the climatic impact of volcanism in the last millennium. However, the currently available information of volcanic records from existing polar ice cores is not sufficient for attaining a complete understanding of the climatic impact of volcanism. Therefore, improved chronology or dating and high resolution measurement for long/deep ice cores will be needed to establish the volcanic eruption history in time scale of tens of thousands to million years and to distinguish eruptions of climatic significance. Then better understanding of the climatic impact of volcanism can be expected.

Key words: volcanism, climate, polar ice cores, sulfuric acid aerosol