Overview

• Continuous flow analysis and radiometric dating published in PNAS Nexus confirm dust levels eightfold and sea salt deposition 49-fold higher during the last Ice Age compared with the Holocene.
• Temperature reconstructions from the Dôme du Goûter core reveal a roughly 3 °C shift between glacial and Holocene periods across the Alpine region.
• Phosphorus and pollen records document 12,000 years of vegetation change, including forest expansion in the early Holocene followed by declines linked to agriculture and industry.
• This 40-meter core, extracted in 1999 from Mont Blanc’s Dôme du Goûter glacier, represents the oldest known continuous ice record in the European Alps.
• The research team plans to map markers of early human activity and integrate the findings into improved climate models to better understand aerosol–cloud interactions and future climate dynamics.