Description: Perturbations in stratospheric aerosol due to explosive volcanic eruptions are a primary contributor to natural climate variability. Observations of stratospheric aerosol are available for the past decades, and information from ice cores has been used to derive estimates of stratospheric sulfur injections and aerosol optical depth over the Holocene (approximately 10,000 BP to present) and into the last glacial period, extending back to 60,000 BP. Tephra records of past volcanism, compared to ice cores, are less complete, but extend much further into the past. To support model studies of the potential impacts of explosive volcanism on climate variability over across timescales, we present here an ensemble reconstruction of volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection (VSSI) over the last 130,000 years that is based primarily on terrestrial and marine tephra records. VSSI values are computed as a simple function of eruption magnitude, based on VSSI estimates from ice cores and satellite observations for identified eruptions. To correct for the incompleteness of the tephra record we include stochastically generated synthetic eruptions, assuming a constant background eruption frequency from the ice core Holocene record. While the reconstruction often differs from ice core estimates for specific eruptions due to uncertainties in the data used and reconstruction method, it shows good agreement with an ice core based VSSI reconstruction in terms of millennial-scale cumulative VSSI variations over the Holocene. The PalVol reconstruction provides a new basis to test the contributions of forced vs. unforced natural variability to the spectrum of climate, and the mechanisms leading to abrupt transitions in the palaeoclimate record with low-to-high complexity climate models. The PalVol volcanic forcing reconstruction is available at https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/PalVolv1 (Toohey, Schindlbeck-Belo, 2023).

Description: An international, multidisciplinary research group is proposing the “NICA-BRIDGE” drilling project, within the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP). The project goal is to conduct scientific drilling in Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua (Nicaragua, Central America) to obtain long lacustrine sediment records to (a) extend the neotropical paleoclimate record back to the Pliocene, making it one of the longest continental tropical climate archives in the world, and to (b) provide geological data on the long-term complex interplay among tectonics, volcanism, sea-level dynamics, climate change, and biosphere. The lakes are the two largest in Central America, and they are located in a trench-parallel half graben that hosts the volcanic front, which developed during or prior to the Pliocene, as a consequence of subduction-related tectonic activity. The lakes are uniquely suited for multidisciplinary scientific investigation as their long, con- tinuous sediment records (several Myr) will facilitate the study of (1) terrestrial and marine basin development at the southern Central American margin, (2) alternating lacustrine and marine environments in response to tec- tonic and climatic changes, (3) the longest record of tropical climate proxies, (4) the evolution of (and transition between) the Miocene to Pliocene/Pleistocene and Pleistocene to present volcanic arcs, which were separated by slab rollback, (5) the significance of the lakes as hot spots for endemism, and (6) the Great American Biotic Interchange at this strategic location, i.e., the N–S and reverse migration of fauna after the land bridge between the Americas was established. The planned ICDP project offers an opportunity to explore these topics through continent-based seismolog- ical, volcanological, paleoclimatological, paleoecological, and paleoenvironmental studies, combined with an International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) drill project to explore its oceanic continuation. In preparation of this drilling project, an ICDP workshop was held in Montelimar, Nicaragua, on 2–5 March 2020 to develop drilling strategies and refine scientific questions, objectives, and hypotheses. The workshop was organized and hosted by the principal investigators and the Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER), with funding from the ICDP. Forty-five researchers from 12 countries participated in the workshop, including representatives from ICDP. During the workshop, previous research data on the study lakes, including new recent surveys, were reviewed, and a three-phase strategy for the proposed research was developed. The aim of Phase 0 is to complement the pre-site surveys where we identified the need for further data. In Phase I, with ICDP support, we will obtain sediment cores ∼ 100 m long, which will allow us to investigate many of the scientific questions. Based on the data from those drill cores, coring locations will be identified for a future Phase II, which we envisage as a combined ICDP/IODP project to collect deep drill cores in the lakes and the offshore Sandino Basin in order to extend Phase I results to much deeper time. The Sandino Basin is the oceanic continuation of the depression in which the studied lakes are located, and complementary marine drilling will improve the understanding of the evolution of this complex margin.

Description: As Earth's atmospheric temperatures and human populations increase, more people are becoming vulnerable to natural and human-induced disasters. This is particularly true in Central America, where the growing human population is experiencing climate extremes (droughts and floods), and the region is susceptible to geological hazards, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and environmental deterioration in many forms (soil erosion, lake eutrophication, heavy metal contamination, etc.). Instrumental and historical data from the region are insufficient to understand and document past hazards, a necessary first step for mitigating future risks. Long, continuous, well-resolved geological records can, however, provide a window into past climate and environmental changes that can be used to better predict future conditions in the region. The Lake Izabal Basin (LIB), in eastern Guatemala, contains the longest known continental records of tectonics, climate, and environmental change in the northern Neotropics. The basin is a pull-apart depression that developed along the North American and Caribbean plate boundary ∼ 12 Myr ago and contains 〉 4 km of sediment. The sedimentological archive in the LIB records the interplay among several Earth System processes. Consequently, exploration of sediments in the basin can provide key information concerning: (1) tectonic deformation and earthquake history along the plate boundary; (2) the timing and causes of volcanism from the Central American Volcanic Arc; and (3) hydroclimatic, ecologic, and geomicrobiological responses to different climate and environmental states. To evaluate the LIB as a potential site for scientific drilling, 65 scientists from 13 countries and 33 institutions met in Antigua, Guatemala, in August 2022 under the auspices of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). Several working groups developed scientific questions and overarching hypotheses that could be addressed by drilling the LIB and identified optimal coring sites and instrumentation needed to achieve the project goals. The group also discussed logistical challenges and outreach opportunities. The project is not only an outstanding opportunity to improve our scientific understanding of seismotectonic, volcanic, paleoclimatic, paleoecologic, and paleobiologic processes that operate in the tropics of Central America, but it is also an opportunity to improve understanding of multiple geological hazards and communicate that knowledge to help increase the resilience of at-risk Central American communities.

Description: Perturbations in stratospheric aerosol due to explosive volcanic eruptions are a primary contributor to natural climate variability. Observations of stratospheric aerosol are available for the past decades, and information from ice cores has been used to derive estimates of stratospheric sulfur injections and aerosol optical depth over the Holocene (approximately 10 000 BP to present) and into the last glacial period, extending back to 60 000 BP. Tephra records of past volcanism, compared to ice cores, are less complete but extend much further into the past. To support model studies of the potential impacts of explosive volcanism on climate variability across timescales, we present here an ensemble reconstruction of volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection (VSSI) over the last 140 000 years that is based primarily on terrestrial and marine tephra records. VSSI values are computed as a simple function of eruption magnitude based on VSSI estimates from ice cores and satellite observations for identified eruptions. To correct for the incompleteness of the tephra record, we include stochastically generated synthetic eruptions assuming a constant background eruption frequency from the ice core Holocene record. While the reconstruction often differs from ice core estimates for specific eruptions due to uncertainties in the data used and reconstruction method, it shows good agreement with an ice-core-based VSSI reconstruction in terms of millennial-scale cumulative VSSI variations over the Holocene. The PalVol reconstruction provides a new basis to test the contributions of forced vs. unforced natural variability to the spectrum of climate and the mechanisms leading to abrupt transitions in the palaeoclimate record with low- to high-complexity climate models. The PalVol volcanic forcing reconstruction is available at https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/PalVolv1 (Toohey and Schindlbeck-Belo, 2023).

Description: We report on a total of 310 samples from marine sediments drilled in the Indian Ocean that were analyzed for glass shard compositions. Samples are mainly from International Ocean Discovery Program Expeditions 353 and 362 but are complemented by samples from Expedition 354; Ocean Drilling Program Legs 183, 121, 120, 119, 116, and 115; and Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 22. We performed 4327 successful single glass shard analyses with the electron microprobe for major element compositions and conducted 937 successful single analyses with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for trace element compositions on individual glass shards previously measured with the electron microprobe. In total, we were able to measure glass compositions for 254 samples. Of all the samples, 235 can be classified as tephra layers containing pyroclasts as the predominant component in their clast inventory between the 63 and 125 µm grain size fraction, often exceeding 90 vol%. The compositions of the Indian Ocean marine tephras range from basalt to rhyolite and from basaltic trachyandesite to trachyte and fall into the calc-alkaline, K-rich calc-alkaline, and shoshonitic magmatic series.

Description: We report on a total of 1005 samples analyzed for major and trace element compositions from marine sediments drilled along the Hikurangi subduction zone and within the incoming Pacific plate. The samples are from International Ocean Discovery Program Expeditions 375 and 372; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 329; Ocean Drilling Program Leg 181; and Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 90. All 1005 samples, resulting in a total number of ~20,200 individual measurements, were analyzed for major element compositions with the electron microprobe. A subset of 419 samples, resulting in a total number of ~1820 individual glass shard analyses, were analyzed for trace element compositions using the laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. In total, ~640 samples were identified as primary ash layers based on their homogeneous geochemistry, visual appearance in the core pictures, and high amount of volcanic glass. Based on the biostratigraphy presented in the cruise reports and subsequent work, we can distinguish between Quaternary- and Neogene-derived tephras. The tephra layers of Quaternary age are mostly of rhyolitic composition with occasional andesitic, dacitic, and trachytic glass shards. The Neogene tephras are mostly of basaltic andesite, andesitic, and rhyolitic composition, with a few basaltic and trachytic tephras. Tephras of both age groups follow the calc-alkaline series trend with a tendency to shift into the high-K calc-alkaline series for tephras with 〉70 wt% SiO2.