Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 6420–6429 Variations in atmospheric trace elements in Dome C (East Antarctica) ice over the last two climatic cycles Paolo Gabrielli a,b , Carlo Barbante b,c,Ã , Claude Boutron a,d , Giulio Cozzi b , Vania Gaspari b , Fre´de´ric Planchon b , Christophe Ferrari a,e , Clara Turetta b,c , Sungmin Hong f , Paolo Cescon b,c a Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Ge´ophysique de l’Environnement du CNRS, 54, rue Molie`re, B.P. 96, 38402 St Martin d’Heres Cedex, France b Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari, 30123 Venice, Italy c Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes-CNR, University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari, 30123 Venice, Italy d Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers et Unite´de Formation et de Recherche de Physique (Institut Universitaire de France), Universite´ Joseph Fourier, Domaine Universitaire, B.P. 68 38041 Grenoble, France e Polytech Grenoble (Institut Universitaire de France), Universite´Joseph Fourier, 28 avenue Benoıˆt Frachon, B.P. 53, 38041 Grenoble, France f Korea Polar Research Institute, KORDI, Ansan, PO Box 29, Seoul 426-744, Republic of Korea Received 31 March 2005; received in revised form 6 July 2005; accepted 18 July 2005 Abstract Concentrations of Li, Mg, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, As, Rb, Cd, Ba and Bi have been determined by inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) in various sections of the new Dome C EPICA Antarctic ice core, down to the depth of 2193m, covering a time period of two climatic cycles. The time resolution of these records is at least twice as good as previously published ultra trace elements profiles obtained from the Vostok ice core. During the 217kyr period spanned by this record, a high variability in concentrations is observed for most elements, with low values during warm periods and high values during cold periods. The highest concentrations are recorded at the times of the last two glacial maxima (20 and 140kyr BP). The timing and the amplitude of the main concentration peaks match remarkably well the insoluble dust concentration profile. It confirms that dust was the main carrier of atmospheric trace elements to East Antarctica during the cold periods. For Ba, Co, Cu and Rb the crustal contribution was also dominant during warm periods. For other elements the situation is more complex during interglacial periods, when other sources such as volcanic quiescent emissions, became possibly significant for several trace elements such as Cd and Bi. Peculiarly high concentration values are observed for Cd and Bi for a short depth interval dated at 18kyr BP. It is the same depth interval in which elevated F  values were previously observed. These very high concentrations are attributed to fallout from major local volcanic emissions at that time. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Trace elements; Antarctica; Ice; Climatic cycles ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv 1352-2310/$-see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.07.025 Ã Corresponding author. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari, 30123 Venice, Italy. Tel.: +39412348942; fax: +39412348549. E-mail address: barbante@unive.it (C. Barbante).