Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica
We report new century-scale ice core records of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), a major atmospheric oxidant, from 23 locations across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and use the spatial variability of (multi-) annual mean H 2 O 2 concentrations in snow and firn to investigate the sensitivity of ic...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eScholarship, University of California
2006
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 |
id |
ftcdlib:qt3kn99987 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcdlib:qt3kn99987 2023-05-15T13:50:53+02:00 Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica Frey, MM Bales, RC McConnell, JR 2006-11-16 application/pdf http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 english eng eScholarship, University of California qt3kn99987 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 public Frey, MM; Bales, RC; & McConnell, JR. (2006). Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 111(21). doi:10.1029/2005JD006816. UC Merced: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 article 2006 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006816 2018-07-13T22:52:13Z We report new century-scale ice core records of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), a major atmospheric oxidant, from 23 locations across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and use the spatial variability of (multi-) annual mean H 2 O 2 concentrations in snow and firn to investigate the sensitivity of ice core H 2 O 2 preservation to mean annual temperature and accumulation rate. In agreement with the ice-air equilibrium partitioning, H 2 O 2 uptake in near-surface firn was found to be greatest at low temperatures, while postdepositional losses from degassing increase as accumulation rates decrease. This resulted in almost complete loss of H 2 O 2 at warm (>-25°C), low-accumulation sites (<13 cm yr -1 ), but excellent preservation of records at cold, high-accumulation sites. A two-parameter semiempirical model fitted to the 1911-1960 H 2 O 2 means across all sites predicts >94% deviations from the ice-air equilibrium at high-accumulation sites (>30 cm yr -1 ), but close-to-equilibrium values on the East Antarctic Plateau, where it is dry (<11 cm yr -1 ). It also estimates a weighted average of the annual atmospheric H 2 O 2 cycle of 1-3 pptv, about 10% of the levels at the bottom of the H 2 O 2 range observed in winter and early spring in coastal Antarctica. Sensitivities from the model fit suggest that recent changes of annual mean temperature observed in Antarctica have no noticeable effect on the H 2 O 2 record in the interior of West Antarctica and that interannual variability of annual H 2 O 2 is dominated by variations in regional-scale accumulation under the current WAIS climate. Intermittent correlations between the first PC time series of accumulation rate and H 2 O 2 concentration anomalies and the annualized SOI during the 20th century are statistically significant (r > 0.6, p < 0.05) during extended El Niño-La Niña events and explain the occurrence of significant spectral peaks at ENSO-like periodicities (2-7 years) in the H 2 O 2 record. Core records of H 2 O 2 at high-accumulation sites (>30 cm yr -1 ) are most suitable for detection of temporal changes in atmospheric concentration, although a long-term H 2 O 2 record will be well preserved under the current environment at the WAIS Divide core site. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Antarctica Journal ice core Ice Sheet West Antarctica University of California: eScholarship Antarctic Soi ENVELOPE(30.704,30.704,66.481,66.481) West Antarctic Ice Sheet West Antarctica Journal of Geophysical Research 111 D21 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
English |
description |
We report new century-scale ice core records of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), a major atmospheric oxidant, from 23 locations across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and use the spatial variability of (multi-) annual mean H 2 O 2 concentrations in snow and firn to investigate the sensitivity of ice core H 2 O 2 preservation to mean annual temperature and accumulation rate. In agreement with the ice-air equilibrium partitioning, H 2 O 2 uptake in near-surface firn was found to be greatest at low temperatures, while postdepositional losses from degassing increase as accumulation rates decrease. This resulted in almost complete loss of H 2 O 2 at warm (>-25°C), low-accumulation sites (<13 cm yr -1 ), but excellent preservation of records at cold, high-accumulation sites. A two-parameter semiempirical model fitted to the 1911-1960 H 2 O 2 means across all sites predicts >94% deviations from the ice-air equilibrium at high-accumulation sites (>30 cm yr -1 ), but close-to-equilibrium values on the East Antarctic Plateau, where it is dry (<11 cm yr -1 ). It also estimates a weighted average of the annual atmospheric H 2 O 2 cycle of 1-3 pptv, about 10% of the levels at the bottom of the H 2 O 2 range observed in winter and early spring in coastal Antarctica. Sensitivities from the model fit suggest that recent changes of annual mean temperature observed in Antarctica have no noticeable effect on the H 2 O 2 record in the interior of West Antarctica and that interannual variability of annual H 2 O 2 is dominated by variations in regional-scale accumulation under the current WAIS climate. Intermittent correlations between the first PC time series of accumulation rate and H 2 O 2 concentration anomalies and the annualized SOI during the 20th century are statistically significant (r > 0.6, p < 0.05) during extended El Niño-La Niña events and explain the occurrence of significant spectral peaks at ENSO-like periodicities (2-7 years) in the H 2 O 2 record. Core records of H 2 O 2 at high-accumulation sites (>30 cm yr -1 ) are most suitable for detection of temporal changes in atmospheric concentration, although a long-term H 2 O 2 record will be well preserved under the current environment at the WAIS Divide core site. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Frey, MM Bales, RC McConnell, JR |
spellingShingle |
Frey, MM Bales, RC McConnell, JR Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica |
author_facet |
Frey, MM Bales, RC McConnell, JR |
author_sort |
Frey, MM |
title |
Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica |
title_short |
Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica |
title_full |
Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica |
title_sort |
climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (h 2 o 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from west antarctica |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(30.704,30.704,66.481,66.481) |
geographic |
Antarctic Soi West Antarctic Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Soi West Antarctic Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Antarctica Journal ice core Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Antarctica Journal ice core Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
op_source |
Frey, MM; Bales, RC; & McConnell, JR. (2006). Climate sensitivity of the century-scale hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) record preserved in 23 ice cores from West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 111(21). doi:10.1029/2005JD006816. UC Merced: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 |
op_relation |
qt3kn99987 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3kn99987 |
op_rights |
public |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006816 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
container_volume |
111 |
container_issue |
D21 |
_version_ |
1766254255138668544 |