Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of the Little Ice Age: The Antarctic Ice Core Record

Recently, ice core records from both hemispheres, in conjunction with other proxy records (e.g., tree rings, speleothems and corals), have shown that the Little Ice Age (LIA) was spatially extensive, extending to the Antarctic. This paper examines the temporal and spatial characteristics of the dust and 5180 infonnation from Antarctic ice cores. Substantial differences exist in the records. For example, a 550year record of 5180 and dust concentrations from Siple Station, Antarctica suggests that warmer, less dusty conditions prevailed from A.D. 1600 to 1830. Alternately, dust and 5180 data from South Pole Station indicate that opposite conditions (e.g., cooler and more dusty) were prevalent during the UA. Three additional Antarctic 5180 records are integrated with the Siple and South Pole histories for a more comprehensive picture of LIA conditions. The records provide additional support for the LIA temperature opposition between the Antarctic Peninsula region and East Antarctica. In addition, periods of strongest LIA cooling are not temporally synchronous over East Antarctica. These strong regional differences demonstrate that a suite of spatially distributed, high resolution ice core records will be necessary to characterize the LIA in Antarctica.