Halogen-based reconstruction of Russian Arctic sea ice area from the Akademii Nauk ice core (Severnaya Zemlya)

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Spolaor, A., Opel, T., McConnell, J. R., Maselli, O. J., Spreen, Gunnar, Varin, C., Kirchgeorg, T., Fritzsche, D., Saiz-Lopez, A., Vallelonga, P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2016
• Subjects: Arctic; Laptev Sea; Severnaya Zemlya; albedo; Ice cap; ice core; laptev; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/139829; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-245-2016

The role of sea ice in the Earth climate system is still under debate, although it is known to influence albedo, ocean circulation, and atmosphere-ocean heat and gas exchange. Here we present a reconstruction of 1950 to 1998 AD sea ice in the Laptev Sea based on the Akademii Nauk ice core (Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic). The chemistry of halogens bromine (Br) and iodine (I) is strongly active and influenced by sea ice dynamics, in terms of physical, chemical and biological process. Bromine reacts on the sea ice surface in autocatalyzing >bromine explosion> events, causing an enrichment of the Br/Na ratio and hence a bromine excess (Br) in snow compared to that in seawater. Iodine is suggested to be emitted from algal communities growing under sea ice. The results suggest a connection between Brexc and spring sea ice area, as well as a connection between iodine concentration and summer sea ice area. The correlation coefficients obtained between Br and spring sea ice (r = 0.44) as well as between iodine and summer sea ice (r = 0.50) for the Laptev Sea suggest that these two halogens could become good candidates for extended reconstructions of past sea ice changes in the Arctic. This study contributes to the Eurasian Arctic Ice 4k project and was supported by the Deutsche Forschungs- gemeinschaft (grant OP 217/2-1 awarded to Thomas Opel). The drilling project on the Akademii Nauk ice cap was funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF research project 03PL 027A). Analysis and interpretation of the Akademii Nauk ice core at the Desert Research Institute was funded by US National Science Foundation grant 1023672. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 610055. We thank the University of Bremen, supported by the State of Bremen; the German Aerospace Center, DLR; and the European Space Agency for the satellite BrO imagines. Opel) Peer Reviewed