Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
Black carbon (BC) is an important climate-forcing agent that affects snow albedo. In this work, we present a record of refractory black carbon (rBC) variability, measured from a 20m deep snow and firn core drilled in West Antarctica (79°55’34.600” S, 94°21’13.3”W, 2122m above sea level) during the 2...
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ftcwashingtonuni:oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:cotsfac-1102 2023-05-15T13:24:18+02:00 Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core Luciano, Marquetto Kaspari, Susan Simões, Jefferson Cardia 2020-05-12T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cotsfac/102 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=cotsfac unknown ScholarWorks@CWU https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cotsfac/102 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=cotsfac © Author(s) 2020. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences Ice core Antarctica Climate Deposition Emissions Black Carbon Geology text 2020 ftcwashingtonuni 2022-10-20T20:28:52Z Black carbon (BC) is an important climate-forcing agent that affects snow albedo. In this work, we present a record of refractory black carbon (rBC) variability, measured from a 20m deep snow and firn core drilled in West Antarctica (79°55’34.600” S, 94°21’13.3”W, 2122m above sea level) during the 2014–2015 austral summer. This is the highest elevation rBC record from West Antarctica. The core was analyzed using the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) coupled to a CETAC Marin-5 nebulizer. Results show a well-defined seasonality with geometric mean concentrations of 0.015 μg L-1 for the wet season (austral summer–fall) and 0.057 μg L-1 for the dry season (austral winter–spring). The core was dated to 47 years (1968–2015) using rBC seasonality as the main parameter, along with sodium (Na), sulfur (S) and strontium (Sr) variations. The annual rBC concentration geometric mean was 0.03 μg L-1, the lowest of all rBC cores in Antarctica referenced in this work, while the annual rBC flux was 6.25 μgm-2 a-1, the lowest flux in West Antarctica rBC records. No long-term trend was observed. Snow albedo reductions at the site due to BC were simulated using SNICAR online and found to be insignificant (-0.48 %) compared to clean snow. Fire spot inventory and BC emission estimates from the Southern Hemisphere suggest Australia and Southern Hemisphere South America as the most probable emission sources of BC to the drilling site, whereas HYSPLIT model particle transport simulations from 1968 to 2015 support Australia and New Zealand as rBC sources, with limited contributions from South America. Spectral analysis (REDFIT method) of the BC record showed cycles related to the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) and to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but cycles in common with the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) were not detected. Correlation of rBC records in Antarctica with snow accumulation, elevation and distance to the sea suggests rBC transport to East Antarctica is different from transport to West Antarctica. Text Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica ice core West Antarctica Central Washington University: ScholarWorks Amundsen Sea Antarctic Austral East Antarctica New Zealand The Antarctic West Antarctica |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Central Washington University: ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftcwashingtonuni |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ice core Antarctica Climate Deposition Emissions Black Carbon Geology |
spellingShingle |
Ice core Antarctica Climate Deposition Emissions Black Carbon Geology Luciano, Marquetto Kaspari, Susan Simões, Jefferson Cardia Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core |
topic_facet |
Ice core Antarctica Climate Deposition Emissions Black Carbon Geology |
description |
Black carbon (BC) is an important climate-forcing agent that affects snow albedo. In this work, we present a record of refractory black carbon (rBC) variability, measured from a 20m deep snow and firn core drilled in West Antarctica (79°55’34.600” S, 94°21’13.3”W, 2122m above sea level) during the 2014–2015 austral summer. This is the highest elevation rBC record from West Antarctica. The core was analyzed using the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) coupled to a CETAC Marin-5 nebulizer. Results show a well-defined seasonality with geometric mean concentrations of 0.015 μg L-1 for the wet season (austral summer–fall) and 0.057 μg L-1 for the dry season (austral winter–spring). The core was dated to 47 years (1968–2015) using rBC seasonality as the main parameter, along with sodium (Na), sulfur (S) and strontium (Sr) variations. The annual rBC concentration geometric mean was 0.03 μg L-1, the lowest of all rBC cores in Antarctica referenced in this work, while the annual rBC flux was 6.25 μgm-2 a-1, the lowest flux in West Antarctica rBC records. No long-term trend was observed. Snow albedo reductions at the site due to BC were simulated using SNICAR online and found to be insignificant (-0.48 %) compared to clean snow. Fire spot inventory and BC emission estimates from the Southern Hemisphere suggest Australia and Southern Hemisphere South America as the most probable emission sources of BC to the drilling site, whereas HYSPLIT model particle transport simulations from 1968 to 2015 support Australia and New Zealand as rBC sources, with limited contributions from South America. Spectral analysis (REDFIT method) of the BC record showed cycles related to the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) and to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but cycles in common with the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) were not detected. Correlation of rBC records in Antarctica with snow accumulation, elevation and distance to the sea suggests rBC transport to East Antarctica is different from transport to West Antarctica. |
format |
Text |
author |
Luciano, Marquetto Kaspari, Susan Simões, Jefferson Cardia |
author_facet |
Luciano, Marquetto Kaspari, Susan Simões, Jefferson Cardia |
author_sort |
Luciano, Marquetto |
title |
Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core |
title_short |
Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core |
title_full |
Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core |
title_fullStr |
Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core |
title_full_unstemmed |
Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core |
title_sort |
refractory black carbon (rbc) variability in a 47-year west antarctic snow and firn core |
publisher |
ScholarWorks@CWU |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cotsfac/102 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=cotsfac |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Austral East Antarctica New Zealand The Antarctic West Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Austral East Antarctica New Zealand The Antarctic West Antarctica |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica ice core West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica ice core West Antarctica |
op_source |
All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cotsfac/102 https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=cotsfac |
op_rights |
© Author(s) 2020. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766378618511949824 |