Levoglucosan as a specific marker of fire events in Greenland snow

• Published in: Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
• Main Authors: Kehrwald, Natalie, Zangrando, Roberta, Gabrielli, Paolo, Jaffrezo, Jean-Luc, Boutron, Claude, Barbante, Carlo, Gambaro, Andrea
• Other Authors: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics Venezia, University of Ca’ Foscari Venice, Italy, Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes-National Research Council, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University Columbus (OSU), Byrd Polar Research Center, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 - UFR Physique, Ingénierie, Terre, Environnement, Mécanique (UJF UFR PhiTEM), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF), Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, ''Centro Beniamino Segre'', Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, ''Centro Beniamino Segre'', PIIF-GA-2009-236961 PaleoFire
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: biomass burning; levoglucosan; snow; ice core; Greenland; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00845304; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00845304/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00845304/file/18196-60949-1-PB.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.18196

International audience We demonstrate the use of levoglucosan (1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucopyranose) as a source-specific proxy of past fire activity in snow pits and ice cores. Levoglucosan is unambiguously a degradation product derived from cellulose burning at temperatures greater than 300 °C and is widely used as a biomass burning marker in aerosol analyses. We analyse samples collected from a 3 m snow pit at Summit, Greenland (72°20′N, 38°45′W; 3270 m a.s.l.), with a known depositional history where biomass burning aerosols were traced from their source in a Canadian smoke plume, through their eastward transport and deposition on the Greenland ice sheet, and their eventual burial by accumulating snow layers. The snow pit levoglucosan profile replicates oxalate concentrations from a known forest fire event, suggesting the applicability of levoglucosan as a marker of past fire activity in snow and by extension in ice cores. However, levoglucosan concentration peaks in the snow pit differ from those of ammonium and potassium, which are traditionally used as biomass burning proxies in snow and ice studies but which incorporate sources other than fire activity. The source specificity of levoglucosan can help determine the past relative contribution of biomass burning aerosols when used in conjunction with other proxies in snow and ice.