10 Be and δ 2 H in polar ice cores as a probe of the solar variability’s influence on climate

Abstract

By using the technique of accelerator mass spectrometry, it is now possible to measure detailed profiles of cosmogenic (cosmic ray produced) 10 Be in polar ice cores. Recent work has demonstrated that these profiles contain information on solar activity, via its influence on the intensity of galactic cosmic rays arriving in the Earth’s atmosphere. It has been known for some time that, as a result of temperature-dependent fractionation effects, the stable isotope profiles δ 2 O and δ 2 H in polar ice cores contain palaeoclimate information. Thus by comparing the 10 Be and stable isotope profiles in the same ice core, one can test the influence of solar variability on climate, and this independent of possible uncertainties in the absolute chronology of the records. We present here the results of such a comparison for two Antarctic ice cores; one from the South Pole, covering the past ca . 1000 years, and one from Dome C, covering the past ca . 3000 years.