The sixth century climatic catastrophe told by the ice cores
by
Lars Berg Larsen
Department of Geophysics, University of Copenhagen
Coauthors: Marie-Louise Siggaard-Andersen (Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research,Bremerhaven), Henrik B. Clausen (Department of Geophysics, NBIfAFG, University of Copenhagen)

In the beginning of the sixth century, early medieval historical data indicate some events, which is believed to be the aftermath of some sort of global climatic catastrophe.

The three-ring and ice core data obtained around the world show a temperature anomaly around this period.

In the ice cores drilled in Greenland at the sites NGRIP, GRIP, DYE-3 and the Antarctica sites BYRD and DOME C we investigated special events and other anomalies in the chemistry, isotope end ECM data.

In the ECM record we have the third largest signal found in the ECM record the last to thousand years.

A detailed chemical analysis of the ice covering the period was made.

From the chemical record we identify a volcanic eruption and we estimate the magnitude of the eruption and a possible location.

With the chemistry and the isotope data it is possible to do a very precise dating for the eruption. The volcanic eruption is dated to AD. 527 +/- 1 year.

The AD 527 volcanic eruption is the only eruption in the period and the only likely candidate to cause some of the calamities described in the historical data

The dating of this volcanic eruption suggest that the event is not the same one described by other sources.

Date received: February 27, 2002

Copyright © 2002 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # caiq-21.