Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940)
International audience Long-term concentration records of carbonaceous particles (CP) are of increasing interest in climate research due to their not yet completely understood effects on climate. Nevertheless, only poor data on their concentrations and sources in the past is available. We present a...
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-00301784v1 2023-11-12T04:18:36+01:00 Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) Jenk, T. M. Szidat, S. Schwikowski, M. Gäggeler, H. W. Brütsch, S. Wacker, L. Synal, H.-A. Saurer, M. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) Institute for Particle Physics Paul Scherrer Institut c/o Institute for Particle Physics 2006-07-07 https://hal.science/hal-00301784 https://hal.science/hal-00301784/document https://hal.science/hal-00301784/file/acpd-6-5905-2006.pdf en eng HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union hal-00301784 https://hal.science/hal-00301784 https://hal.science/hal-00301784/document https://hal.science/hal-00301784/file/acpd-6-5905-2006.pdf info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1680-7367 EISSN: 1680-7375 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00301784 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2006, 6 (4), pp.5905-5931 [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2006 ftccsdartic 2023-10-21T23:13:04Z International audience Long-term concentration records of carbonaceous particles (CP) are of increasing interest in climate research due to their not yet completely understood effects on climate. Nevertheless, only poor data on their concentrations and sources in the past is available. We present a first long-term record of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations - the two main fractions of CP ? along with the corresponding fraction of modern carbon (f M ) derived from radiocarbon ( 14 C) analysis. The combination of concentration measurements with 14 C analysis of CP allows a distinction and quantification of natural, biogenic and anthropogenic fossil sources in the past. CP were extracted from an ice archive, with resulting carbon quantities in the microgram range. Analysis of 14 C by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was therefore highly demanding. We analysed 33 samples of 0.4 to 1 kg ice from a 150.5 m long ice core retrieved at Fiescherhorn glacier in December 2002 (46°33'3.2" N, 08°04'0.4'' E; 3900 m a.s.l.). Samples were taken from below the firn/ice transition down to bedrock, covering the time period 1650?1940 and thus the transition from the pre-industrial to the industrial era. Before 1800, OC was of pure biogenic origin with a mean concentration of 21±2 ?g kg ?1 }. In 1940, OC concentration was more than a factor of 3 higher than this biogenic background, almost half of it originating from anthropogenic sources, i.e. from combustion of fossil fuels. The biogenic EC concentration was nearly constant over the examined time period with 6±1 ?g kg ?1 . In 1940, the additional anthropogenic input of atmospheric EC was about 50 ?g kg ?1 . Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere Jenk, T. M. Szidat, S. Schwikowski, M. Gäggeler, H. W. Brütsch, S. Wacker, L. Synal, H.-A. Saurer, M. Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
topic_facet |
[SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere |
description |
International audience Long-term concentration records of carbonaceous particles (CP) are of increasing interest in climate research due to their not yet completely understood effects on climate. Nevertheless, only poor data on their concentrations and sources in the past is available. We present a first long-term record of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations - the two main fractions of CP ? along with the corresponding fraction of modern carbon (f M ) derived from radiocarbon ( 14 C) analysis. The combination of concentration measurements with 14 C analysis of CP allows a distinction and quantification of natural, biogenic and anthropogenic fossil sources in the past. CP were extracted from an ice archive, with resulting carbon quantities in the microgram range. Analysis of 14 C by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was therefore highly demanding. We analysed 33 samples of 0.4 to 1 kg ice from a 150.5 m long ice core retrieved at Fiescherhorn glacier in December 2002 (46°33'3.2" N, 08°04'0.4'' E; 3900 m a.s.l.). Samples were taken from below the firn/ice transition down to bedrock, covering the time period 1650?1940 and thus the transition from the pre-industrial to the industrial era. Before 1800, OC was of pure biogenic origin with a mean concentration of 21±2 ?g kg ?1 }. In 1940, OC concentration was more than a factor of 3 higher than this biogenic background, almost half of it originating from anthropogenic sources, i.e. from combustion of fossil fuels. The biogenic EC concentration was nearly constant over the examined time period with 6±1 ?g kg ?1 . In 1940, the additional anthropogenic input of atmospheric EC was about 50 ?g kg ?1 . |
author2 |
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) Institute for Particle Physics Paul Scherrer Institut c/o Institute for Particle Physics |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jenk, T. M. Szidat, S. Schwikowski, M. Gäggeler, H. W. Brütsch, S. Wacker, L. Synal, H.-A. Saurer, M. |
author_facet |
Jenk, T. M. Szidat, S. Schwikowski, M. Gäggeler, H. W. Brütsch, S. Wacker, L. Synal, H.-A. Saurer, M. |
author_sort |
Jenk, T. M. |
title |
Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
title_short |
Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
title_full |
Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
title_fullStr |
Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
title_sort |
radiocarbon analysis in an alpine ice core: record of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the past (1650?1940) |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00301784 https://hal.science/hal-00301784/document https://hal.science/hal-00301784/file/acpd-6-5905-2006.pdf |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_source |
ISSN: 1680-7367 EISSN: 1680-7375 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00301784 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2006, 6 (4), pp.5905-5931 |
op_relation |
hal-00301784 https://hal.science/hal-00301784 https://hal.science/hal-00301784/document https://hal.science/hal-00301784/file/acpd-6-5905-2006.pdf |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1782335204574101504 |