Proxies and measurement techniques for mineral dust in Antarctic ice cores
To improve quantitative interpretation of ice core aeolian dust records, a systematic methodological comparison was made. This involved methods for water-insoluble particle counting (Coulter Counter and laser-sensing particle detector), soluble ion analysis (ion chromatography, and continuous flow a...
Published in: | Environmental Science & Technology |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2008
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/18051/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/18051/1/Rut2007c.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.30829 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.30829.d001 |
Summary: | To improve quantitative interpretation of ice core aeolian dust records, a systematic methodological comparison was made. This involved methods for water-insoluble particle counting (Coulter Counter and laser-sensing particle detector), soluble ion analysis (ion chromatography, and continuous flow analysis), elemental analysis (inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy at pH 1 and after full acid digestion), and water-insoluble elemental analysis (proton induced X-ray emission). Antarctic ice core samples covering the last deglaciation from the EPICA Dome C (EDC) and the EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) cores were used. All methods correlate very well amongst each other, but the ratios of glacial age to Holocene concentrations, which are typically a factor ~100, differ between the methods by up to a factor of 2 with insoluble particles showing the largest variability. The recovery of ICP-MS measurements depends on the digestion method and is different for different elements and during different climatic periods. EDC and EDML samples have similar dust composition, which suggests a common dust source or a common mixture of sources for the two sites. The analysed samples further reveal a change of dust composition during the last deglaciation. |
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