2004/12/16 by Paul A. LaViolette, Paul LaViolette
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #physics.gen-ph #physics.space-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.pss.2004.09.020
published as Planetary and Space Science, 2005, vol. 53 no. 4, pages 385 - 393 · 16 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, to appear in Planetary and Space Science
openalex publication_date 2004/12/16 · arxiv created 2005/02/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Hammer et al. [1997] report the presence of regularly spaced acidity peaks (H+, F-, Cl-) in the Byrd Station, Antarctica ice core. The event has a duration of about one century and falls at the beginning of the deglacial warming. Volcanism appears to be an unlikely cause since the total acid deposition of this event was about 18 fold greater than the largest known volcanic eruption, and since volcanic eruptions are not known to recur with such regularity. We show that the recurrence period of these peaks averages to 11.5 +/- 2.4 years, which approximates the solar cycle period, and suggest that this feature may have an extraterrestrial origin. We propose that this material may mark a period of enhanced interstellar dust and gas influx modulated by the solar cycle. The presence of this material could have made the Sun more active and have been responsible for initiating the warming that ended the last ice age.