© Author(s) 2006. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics The transport history of two Saharan dust events archived in an Alpine ice core

• Main Authors: H. Sodemann, A. S. Palmer, C. Schwierz, M. Schwikowski, H. Wernli
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: ice core
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.129.7523; http://www.atmos-chem-phys.org/6/667/2006/acp-6-667-2006.pdf

Abstract. Mineral dust from the Saharan desert can be transported across the Mediterranean towards the Alpine region several times a year. When coinciding with snowfall, the dust can be deposited on Alpine glaciers and then appears as yellow or red layers in ice cores. Two such significant dust events were identified in an ice core drilled at the highaccumulation site Piz Zupó in the Swiss Alps (46 ◦ 22 ′ N, 9 ◦ 55 ′ E, 3850 m a.s.l.). From stable oxygen isotopes and major ion concentrations, the events were approximately dated as October and March 2000. In order to link the dust record in the ice core to the meteorological situation that led to the dust events, a novel methodology based on back-trajectory analysis was developed. It allowed the detailed analysis of the specific meteorologic flow evolution that was associated with Saharan dust transport into the Alps, and the identification