No abstract

Antarctic ice preserves an ~800 kyr record of dust activity in the Southern Hemisphere. Major efforts have been dedicated to elucidate the origin of this material in order to gain greater insight into the atmospheric dust cycle. On the basis of Pb isotopes in Antarctic dust samples and potential sources, this contribution demonstrates for the first time that Patagonia is the main contributor of dust to Antarctica during interglacial periods as well as glacials, although the potential importance of Tierra del Fuego remains unclear because of its geochemical similarities to Patagonia. An important new finding is that the Puna‐Altiplano sector of the continent is a second important dust source to eastern Antarctica during both glacials and interglacials, being more prominent during interglacials. The data indicate South America is the primary dust source to Antarctica during both glacials and interglacials.

The Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory radiogenic isotope group has been systematically measuring Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Hf isotopes of USGS reference material BCR‐2 (Columbia River Basalt 2), as a chemical processing and instrumental quality control monitor for isotopic measurements. BCR‐2 is now a widely used geochemical inter‐laboratory reference material (RM), with its predecessor BCR‐1 no longer available. Recognising that precise and accurate data on RMs is important for ensuring analytical quality and for comparing data between different laboratories, we present a compilation of multiple digestions and analyses made on BCR‐2 during the first author's dissertation research. The best estimates of Sr, Nd and Hf isotope ratios and measurement reproducibilities, after filtering at the 2s level for outliers, were 87Sr/86Sr = 0.705000 ± 11 (2s, 16 ppm, n = 21, sixteen digestions, one outlier), 143Nd/144Nd = 0.512637 ± 13 (2s, 25 ppm, n = 27, thirteen digestions, one outlier) and 176Hf/177Hf = 0.282866 ± 11 (2s, 39 ppm, n = 25, thirteen digestions, no outliers). Mean Nd and Hf values were within error of those reported by Weis et al. (2006, 2007) in their studies of RMs; mean Sr values were just outside the 2s uncertainty range of both laboratories. Moreover, a survey of published Sr‐Nd‐Hf data shows that our results fall within the range of reported values, but with a smaller variability. Our Pb isotope results on acid leached BCR‐2 aliquots (n = 26, twelve digestions, two outliers) were 206Pb/204Pb = 18.8029 ± 10 (2s, 55 ppm), 207Pb/204Pb = 15.6239 ± 8 (2s, 52 ppm), 208Pb/204Pb = 38.8287 ± 25 (2s, 63 ppm). We confirm that unleached BCR‐2 powder is contaminated with Pb, and that sufficient leaching prior to digestion is required to achieve accurate values for the uncontaminated Pb isotopic compositions.