New Investigation of a Greenland ice core platinum anomaly near the Bølling-Allerød/Younger Dryas boundary

[Oxytropidoceras]

Green, C. E., 2019. Investigating the origin of a Greenland ice 

core geochemical anomaly near the Bølling-Allerød/Younger 

Dryas boundary (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University).

http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13490/

http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13490/1/C_Green_thesis_final_CORRECTIONS.pdf

 

Green (2019) noted:

 

"The source of a platinum peak identified in the Greenland 

Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core associated with high

platinum/iridium (Pt/Ir) and platinum/aluminium (Pt/Al) 

ratios, and previous research attributed the anomaly to an 

unusual iron-rich Ir-poor meteorite impact."

 

Green (2019) concluded:

 

I. the Laacher See eruption is not the Pt spike source because: 

A. the Laacher See tephra has low Pt concentrations, 

B. the Laacher See tephra’s geochemical ratios are dissimilar 

to the GISP2 Pt spike and 

C. conversion of the Pt spike timing to the newest ice core 

age-depth model shows a chronological offset of ~60 years 

between the two events.

 

II. The event resulting in the Pt spike occurred ~60 years 

after GS-1 cooling, and was therefore not the primary 

trigger.

 

III. and the Pt spike origin is interpreted as either: 

A. a noncataclysmic impact of an undiscovered iron meteorite

B. or an unidentified Pt-rich volcanic eruption contemporaneous 

with the anomaly, whose aerosol fractionated in the atmosphere 

or ice.

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.