Isotopic and elemental relics of the 1815 AD Tambora eruption in ice from Law Dome, Antarctica

Lead isotopes and Pb, Ba and Bi concentrations have been recently measured at sub-annual resolution in an ice core section from Law Dome, Antarctica, corresponding to the period 1814-1819 AD and containing a SO^{2-}_4signal attributed to the 1815 AD eruption of Tambora volcano in Indonesia. While increasing concentrations of Pb and Bi coincide with the 1817-1818 AD volcanic SO4^{2-} peak, Pb isotope data do not confirm Tambora as the source. Barium concentrations were elevated from 1816.5 to 1818.5 AD, indicating increased atmospheric dust levels. These findings contribute to the growing body of data indicating that effusive, rather than explosive, volcanism is the most important volcanic emission process determining the flux of volcanogenic heavy metals to the polar ice sheets.