Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records
Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is an important contributor to global and regional nitrogen cycles, and atmospheric nitrogen could be a critical limit nutrient for remote areas. In this study, nitrogen species compositions, deposition fluxes, and historical records in the mountains of Western China,...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5f7b78b9e09e48ef92da2ac44f7bbf29 2023-05-15T16:38:59+02:00 Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records Yanqing An Jianzhong Xu Yanmei Liu Xiaofei Li Huabiao Zhao Shichang Kang 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456 https://doaj.org/article/5f7b78b9e09e48ef92da2ac44f7bbf29 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-665X 2296-665X doi:10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456 https://doaj.org/article/5f7b78b9e09e48ef92da2ac44f7bbf29 Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 9 (2022) nitrogen deposition mountain glacier Western China Tibetan plateau ice core Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456 2022-12-31T14:29:05Z Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is an important contributor to global and regional nitrogen cycles, and atmospheric nitrogen could be a critical limit nutrient for remote areas. In this study, nitrogen species compositions, deposition fluxes, and historical records in the mountains of Western China, including the Tibetan Plateau, were determined from snowpit and ice core samples collected from mountain glaciers. The mean concentration of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) in the snowpit samples was 12.6 μmol L−1 (8.0–17.8 μmol L−1) and comprised 59% ammonium nitrogen, 35% nitrate nitrogen, and ∼6% dissolved organic nitrogen. The deposition of nitrogen species, except organic nitrogen (likely due to its low concentrations and/or different origination), varied seasonally in a similar way based on the records of the snowpit profile. Based on monthly surface sample collection in one of the glaciers, the mass concentration and composition of nitrogen species varied monthly, mainly because of melting processes. During melting, the inorganic nitrogen content could be lost significantly, whereas the dissolved organic nitrogen concentration could be enriched because of microbial activity. For the historical records, the nitrogen deposition in mountain areas of Western China after 1960s was increased by about one time of that during 1900–1950 and was dominated by ammonium-N. From the snowpit data, we estimated the total dissolved nitrogen deposition flux at 0.56–1.3 (mean 0.88) kg ha−1 a−1 in the mountain area of Western China. These results could improve our understanding of nitrogen deposition and cycle in the mountain areas of Western China. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Environmental Science 9 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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nitrogen deposition mountain glacier Western China Tibetan plateau ice core Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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nitrogen deposition mountain glacier Western China Tibetan plateau ice core Environmental sciences GE1-350 Yanqing An Jianzhong Xu Yanmei Liu Xiaofei Li Huabiao Zhao Shichang Kang Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records |
topic_facet |
nitrogen deposition mountain glacier Western China Tibetan plateau ice core Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is an important contributor to global and regional nitrogen cycles, and atmospheric nitrogen could be a critical limit nutrient for remote areas. In this study, nitrogen species compositions, deposition fluxes, and historical records in the mountains of Western China, including the Tibetan Plateau, were determined from snowpit and ice core samples collected from mountain glaciers. The mean concentration of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) in the snowpit samples was 12.6 μmol L−1 (8.0–17.8 μmol L−1) and comprised 59% ammonium nitrogen, 35% nitrate nitrogen, and ∼6% dissolved organic nitrogen. The deposition of nitrogen species, except organic nitrogen (likely due to its low concentrations and/or different origination), varied seasonally in a similar way based on the records of the snowpit profile. Based on monthly surface sample collection in one of the glaciers, the mass concentration and composition of nitrogen species varied monthly, mainly because of melting processes. During melting, the inorganic nitrogen content could be lost significantly, whereas the dissolved organic nitrogen concentration could be enriched because of microbial activity. For the historical records, the nitrogen deposition in mountain areas of Western China after 1960s was increased by about one time of that during 1900–1950 and was dominated by ammonium-N. From the snowpit data, we estimated the total dissolved nitrogen deposition flux at 0.56–1.3 (mean 0.88) kg ha−1 a−1 in the mountain area of Western China. These results could improve our understanding of nitrogen deposition and cycle in the mountain areas of Western China. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yanqing An Jianzhong Xu Yanmei Liu Xiaofei Li Huabiao Zhao Shichang Kang |
author_facet |
Yanqing An Jianzhong Xu Yanmei Liu Xiaofei Li Huabiao Zhao Shichang Kang |
author_sort |
Yanqing An |
title |
Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records |
title_short |
Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records |
title_full |
Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records |
title_fullStr |
Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records |
title_full_unstemmed |
Concentrations, Compositions, and Deposition Rates of Dissolved Nitrogen in Western China: Insights From Snow Records |
title_sort |
concentrations, compositions, and deposition rates of dissolved nitrogen in western china: insights from snow records |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456 https://doaj.org/article/5f7b78b9e09e48ef92da2ac44f7bbf29 |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_source |
Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 9 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-665X 2296-665X doi:10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456 https://doaj.org/article/5f7b78b9e09e48ef92da2ac44f7bbf29 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.827456 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Environmental Science |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766029348142317568 |