Records of active volcanism in Antarctica provide key information to
understand the role of volcanoes shaping the polar climate and its
potential impacts on the cryosphere. The lack of historical records of
volcanic activity in the region has limited our comprehension of
Antarctic volcanism. Remote sensing can provide insight into active
volcanism during the satellite era, although the evidence is often
inconclusive. Here we present a detailed study from multiple Antarctic
ice cores to provide independent evidence of active volcanism in the
sub-Antarctic Balleny Islands in 2001 AD, supporting un-verified images
from satellites. The ice core records reveal elevated inputs of sulphate
and microparticles from a local Antarctic volcanic source. In-phase
deposition of volcanic products confirmed a rapid tropospheric transport
of volcanic emissions from a small-to-moderate, local eruption during
2001. Air mass trajectories demonstrated some air parcels were
transported over the West Antarctic Ice sheet from the Balleny Islands
to ice core sites at the time of the potential eruption, establishing a
route for transport and deposition of volcanic products over the ice
sheet. The data presented here validate previous remote sensing
observations and confirms a volcanic event in the Balleny Islands during
2001 AD. This newly identified eruption provides a case study of recent
Antarctic volcanism and a consistent XXI century chronostratigraphic
marker for ice core sites in Marie Byrd Land, Ellsworth Land and the
southern Antarctic Peninsula.