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Science 17 October 1986:
Vol. 234. no. 4774, pp. 361 - 364
DOI: 10.1126/science.234.4774.361
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Articles

The Little Ice Age as Recorded in the Stratigraphy of the Tropical Quelccaya Ice Cap

L. G. THOMPSON 1, E. MOSLEY-THOMPSON 1, W. DANSGAARD, 2, and P. M. GROOTES 3

1 Institute of Polar Studies, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210.
2 Geophysical Institute, Department of Glaciology, University of Copenhagen, Haraldsgade 6, Copenhagen 2200, Denmark.
3 Quaternary Isotope Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.

The analyses of two ice cores from a southern tropical ice cap provide a record of climatic conditions over 1000 years for a region where other proxy records are nearly absent. Annual variations in visible dust layers, oxygen isotopes, microparticle concentrations, conductivity, and identification of the historical (A.D. 1600) Huaynaputina ash permit accurate dating and time-scale verification. The fact that the Little Ice Age (about A.D. 1500 to 1900) stands out as a significant climatic event in the oxygen isotope and electrical conductivity records confirms the worldwide character of this event.

Submitted on January 23, 1986
Accepted on June 27, 1986


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