A Preliminary Investigation of Diffusion of Volatile Atmospheric Acids in Snow

A preliminary cold room experiment was conducted to determine the diffusion rate of several reactive atmospheric chemical contaminants in snow at -70 degrees C. These species included formaldehyde, p-nitrotoluene (PNT), HNO3, and HCI. Because of detection or contamination problems we could not quant...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cragin, James H., Leggett, Daniel C.
Other Authors: ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER HANOVER NH COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2003
Subjects:
Meteorology
Physical Chemistry
Air Pollution and Control
*SNOW
*VOLATILITY
*DIFFUSION
*CONTAMINATION
LOW TEMPERATURE
DETECTION
AIR POLLUTION
REACTIVITIES
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
FORMALDEHYDE
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
PNT(P-NITROTOLUENE)
ICE CORE RECORDS
SEASONAL SNOWPACKS
ice core
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA421422
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA421422
Description
Summary:A preliminary cold room experiment was conducted to determine the diffusion rate of several reactive atmospheric chemical contaminants in snow at -70 degrees C. These species included formaldehyde, p-nitrotoluene (PNT), HNO3, and HCI. Because of detection or contamination problems we could not quantify diffusion rate for formaldehyde, PNT, or HNO3. However, the diffusivity of HCI in snow (p = 0.38 g/cu cm) was found to be >7.7 x 10(exp -4) sq cm/s. This is about two orders of magnitude greater than hitherto expected and suggests that HCI may be rapidly redistributed or lost from seasonal snowpacks. Thus, one should be cautious in interpreting temporal records of HCI and other volatile species in seasonal or polar snowpacks, until their integrity is better established.

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