Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign
Variations in the stable oxygen isotope composition of atmospheric nitrate act as novel tools for studying oxidative processes taking place in the troposphere. They provide both qualitative and quantitative constraints on the pathways determining the fate of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO + NO 2 =...
Published in: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/2659/2016/ |
id |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:acp31115 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:acp31115 2023-05-15T13:43:09+02:00 Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign Savarino, Joël Vicars, William C. Legrand, Michel Preunkert, Suzanne Jourdain, Bruno Frey, Markus M. Kukui, Alexandre Caillon, Nicolas Gil Roca, Jaime 2018-09-10 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/2659/2016/ eng eng doi:10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/2659/2016/ eISSN: 1680-7324 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 2019-12-24T09:52:43Z Variations in the stable oxygen isotope composition of atmospheric nitrate act as novel tools for studying oxidative processes taking place in the troposphere. They provide both qualitative and quantitative constraints on the pathways determining the fate of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO + NO 2 = NO x ). The unique and distinctive 17 O excess (Δ 17 O = δ 17 O − 0.52 × δ 18 O) of ozone, which is transferred to NO x via oxidation, is a particularly useful isotopic fingerprint in studies of NO x transformations. Constraining the propagation of 17 O excess within the NO x cycle is critical in polar areas, where there exists the possibility of extending atmospheric investigations to the glacial–interglacial timescale using deep ice core records of nitrate. Here we present measurements of the comprehensive isotopic composition of atmospheric nitrate collected at Dome C (East Antarctic Plateau) during the austral summer of 2011/2012. Nitrate isotope analysis has been here combined for the first time with key precursors involved in nitrate production (NO x , O 3 , OH, HO 2 , RO 2 , etc.) and direct observations of the transferrable Δ 17 O of surface ozone, which was measured at Dome C throughout 2012 using our recently developed analytical approach. Assuming that nitrate is mainly produced in Antarctica in summer through the OH + NO 2 pathway and using concurrent measurements of OH and NO 2 , we calculated a Δ 17 O signature for nitrate on the order of (21–22 ± 3) ‰. These values are lower than the measured values that ranged between 27 and 31 ‰. This discrepancy between expected and observed Δ 17 O(NO 3 − ) values suggests the existence of an unknown process that contributes significantly to the atmospheric nitrate budget over this East Antarctic region. However, systematic errors or false isotopic balance transfer functions are not totally excluded. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica ice core Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic Austral East Antarctica Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16 4 2659 2673 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
Variations in the stable oxygen isotope composition of atmospheric nitrate act as novel tools for studying oxidative processes taking place in the troposphere. They provide both qualitative and quantitative constraints on the pathways determining the fate of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO + NO 2 = NO x ). The unique and distinctive 17 O excess (Δ 17 O = δ 17 O − 0.52 × δ 18 O) of ozone, which is transferred to NO x via oxidation, is a particularly useful isotopic fingerprint in studies of NO x transformations. Constraining the propagation of 17 O excess within the NO x cycle is critical in polar areas, where there exists the possibility of extending atmospheric investigations to the glacial–interglacial timescale using deep ice core records of nitrate. Here we present measurements of the comprehensive isotopic composition of atmospheric nitrate collected at Dome C (East Antarctic Plateau) during the austral summer of 2011/2012. Nitrate isotope analysis has been here combined for the first time with key precursors involved in nitrate production (NO x , O 3 , OH, HO 2 , RO 2 , etc.) and direct observations of the transferrable Δ 17 O of surface ozone, which was measured at Dome C throughout 2012 using our recently developed analytical approach. Assuming that nitrate is mainly produced in Antarctica in summer through the OH + NO 2 pathway and using concurrent measurements of OH and NO 2 , we calculated a Δ 17 O signature for nitrate on the order of (21–22 ± 3) ‰. These values are lower than the measured values that ranged between 27 and 31 ‰. This discrepancy between expected and observed Δ 17 O(NO 3 − ) values suggests the existence of an unknown process that contributes significantly to the atmospheric nitrate budget over this East Antarctic region. However, systematic errors or false isotopic balance transfer functions are not totally excluded. |
format |
Text |
author |
Savarino, Joël Vicars, William C. Legrand, Michel Preunkert, Suzanne Jourdain, Bruno Frey, Markus M. Kukui, Alexandre Caillon, Nicolas Gil Roca, Jaime |
spellingShingle |
Savarino, Joël Vicars, William C. Legrand, Michel Preunkert, Suzanne Jourdain, Bruno Frey, Markus M. Kukui, Alexandre Caillon, Nicolas Gil Roca, Jaime Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign |
author_facet |
Savarino, Joël Vicars, William C. Legrand, Michel Preunkert, Suzanne Jourdain, Bruno Frey, Markus M. Kukui, Alexandre Caillon, Nicolas Gil Roca, Jaime |
author_sort |
Savarino, Joël |
title |
Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign |
title_short |
Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign |
title_full |
Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign |
title_fullStr |
Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign |
title_full_unstemmed |
Oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at Dome C, East Antarctica, during the OPALE campaign |
title_sort |
oxygen isotope mass balance of atmospheric nitrate at dome c, east antarctica, during the opale campaign |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/2659/2016/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral East Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral East Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica ice core |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica ice core |
op_source |
eISSN: 1680-7324 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/2659/2016/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
2659 |
op_container_end_page |
2673 |
_version_ |
1766185243853717504 |