SNOW CHEMISTRY ACROSS ANTARCTICA

Annals of Glaciology, 41

Nancy Bertler¹, Paul Mayweski², Alberto Aristarain³, Peter Barrett¹, Silvia Becagli⁴, Ronaldo Bernardo⁵, Sun Bo⁶, Xiao Cunde⁷, Mark Curran⁸, Qin Dahe⁹, Daniel Dixon², Francisco Ferron⁵, Hubertus Fischer¹⁰, Markus Frey¹¹, Massimo Frezzotti¹², Felix Fundel¹⁰, Christophe Genthon¹³, Roberto Gragnani¹², Gordon Hamilton², Mike Handley², Sungmin Hong¹⁴, Elisabeth Isaksson¹⁵, Kang Jiancheng⁶, Ren Jiawen⁹, Kokichi Kamiyama¹⁶, Satoru Kanamori¹⁶, Eija Kärkäs17, Lars Karlöf¹⁵, Susan Kaspari², Karl Kreutz², Andrei Kurbatov², Eric Meyerson², Yan Ming⁶, Zhang Mingjun⁹, Hideaki Motoyama¹⁶, Robert Mulvaney¹⁸, Hans Oerter¹⁰, Eric Osterberg², Marco Proposito¹², Alex Pyne¹, Urs Ruth¹⁰, Jefferson Simoes⁵, Barbara Smith⁸, Sharon Sneed², Kimmo Teinilä¹⁹, Fidan Traufetter¹⁰, Roberto Udisti⁴, Aki Virkkula1⁷, Okitsugu Watanabe¹⁶, Bruce Williamson², Jan-Gunnar Winther¹⁵, Li Yuansheng⁶, Eric Wolff¹⁸, Li Zhongqin⁹, Ann Zielinski²

Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, Maine USA
Laboratorio de Estratigrafia Glaciar y Geoquimica Del Agua y de la Nieve - Conicet, Mendonça, Argentina
Department of Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry Section, Scientific Pole - University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
Núcleo de Pesquisas Antárticas e Climáticas, Departamento de Geografia, Instituto de Geociências - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil
Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200129, China
Instiute of Climate and Environment, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; also at Cold and Arid Regions Envorinmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000, China
Australian Antarctic Division/ACE CRC, Private Bag 80, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Cold and Arid Regions Envorinmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000, China
Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrasse, Bremerhaven, Germany
Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
ENEA,"Progetto Clima Globale", Roma, Italy
LGGE CNRS, 54 Rue Moliere, DU BP 96, Saint Martin d'Heres Cedex, France
Korea Polar Research Institute, Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute, Seoul, Korea
Norwegian Polar Institute, Polarmiljøsenteret, Tromsø, Norway
National Institute of Polar Research, Polar Meteolorogy and Glaciology Group, Kaga 1-9-10, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8515, Japan
Division of Geophysics, Department of Physical Sciences, P.O. Box 64, University of Helsinki, Finland
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Air Quality Research, Sahaajankatu 20E, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

An updated compilation of published and new data of major ion (Ca, Cl, K, Mg, Na, NO3, SO4) and methylsulfonate (MS) concentrations in snow from 520 Antarctic sites is provided by the national ITASE programmes of Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, United States of America, and the national Antarctic programme of Finland. The comparison shows that snow chemistry concentrations vary by up to four orders of magnitude across Antarctica and exhibit distinct geographical patterns. The Antarctic-wide comparison of glaciochemical records provides a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the fundamental factors that ultimately control the chemistry of snow or ice samples. This paper aims to initiate data compilation and administration in order to provide a framework for facilitation of Antarctic-wide snow chemistry discussions across all ITASE nations and other contributing groups. The data are made available through the ITASE web page and will be updated with new data as they are provided. In addition, recommendations for future research efforts are summarised.

Data Table (pdf ) - Page 2