In this work we investigate the spatial variability of dust flux and provenance during modern (pre-industrial) and Holocene times along a transect connecting Talos Dome to the internal sites of the Antarctic plateau and we extend the existing documentation of the isotopic (Sr-Nd) fingerprint of dust-sized sediments from Victoria Land source areas.
Dust flux, grain size and isotopic composition show a marked variability between Talos Dome, Mid Point, D4 and Dome C/Vostok, suggesting that local sources play an important role on the periphery of the ice sheet. Microscope observations reveal that background mineral aerosol in the TALDICE core is composed by a mixture of dust, volcanic particles and micrometric-sized fragments of diatoms, these latter representing a small but pervasive component of Antarctic sediments. A set of samples from Victoria Land, mostly consisting of regolith and glacial deposits from high-elevation areas, was collected specially for this work and the isotopic composition of the dust-sized fraction of samples was analyzed. Results reveal a close relationship with the parent lithologies, but direct comparison between source samples and firn/ice core dust is problematical because of the ubiquitous volcanic contribution to the environmental particulate input in the Talos Dome area.
The frequency of events potentially suitable for peripheral dust transport to Talos Dome appears relatively high for present-day conditions, according to back trajectories calculations, and the related air flow pattern well-defined from a seasonal and spatial perspective. Also, as expected from palaeo-data, these events appear extremely uncommon for internal sites.