Abstract

Records of active volcanism in Antarctica provide key information to understand the role of volcanoes shaping the polar climate and its potential impacts on the cryosphere. The lack of historical records of volcanic activity in the region has limited our comprehension of Antarctic volcanism. Remote sensing can provide insight into active volcanism during the satellite era, although the evidence is often inconclusive. Here we present a detailed study from multiple Antarctic ice cores to provide independent evidence of active volcanism in the sub-Antarctic Balleny Islands in 2001 AD, supporting un-verified images from satellites. The ice core records reveal elevated inputs of sulphate and microparticles from a local Antarctic volcanic source. In-phase deposition of volcanic products confirmed a rapid tropospheric transport of volcanic emissions from a small-to-moderate, local eruption during 2001. Air mass trajectories demonstrated some air parcels were transported over the West Antarctic Ice sheet from the Balleny Islands to ice core sites at the time of the potential eruption, establishing a route for transport and deposition of volcanic products over the ice sheet. The data presented here validate previous remote sensing observations and confirms a volcanic event in the Balleny Islands during 2001 AD. This newly identified eruption provides a case study of recent Antarctic volcanism and a consistent XXI century chronostratigraphic marker for ice core sites in Marie Byrd Land, Ellsworth Land and the southern Antarctic Peninsula.