Cosmogenic production and climate contributions to nitrate record in the TALDICE Antarctic ice core

This paper presents the results of a comparative wavelet coherence analysis of a multimillennial nitrate record with a number of climatic and solar activity proxies. Distinguishing between these factors is important in the view of a possibility of nitrate deposited in a polar region to represent galactic cosmic ray flux and, consequently, solar activity. We used the data from the TALDICE drilling project (Talos Dome, Antarctica), which covers the age range 12,000–700 BP (years before present, i.e. before 1950) and includes records of nitrate as well as climatic proxies, such as Na+, Ca2+, MSA (methanesulphonic acid), δ18O, SO 4 2 − . The solar activity series is represented by reconstructions of the heliospheric modulation parameter from the 14C and 10Be data. We found (1) a confirmation of multimillennial relation between nitrate and galactic cosmic ray flux; (2) no clear signature of long-term variations of nitrate transport from lower latitudes. We suggest that variations in the nitrate record in the time scale of hundreds–thousands years are most likely caused by local production, deposition and post-deposition processes.