Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978
An understanding of the phenomenon of acid rain requires the identification of the sources of the species affecting the pH of rainwater, both natural and anthropogenic, and their temporal and spatial development. The scant data concerning the historical development of the acidity in precipitation ar...
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Language: | English |
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1985
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/314611a0 |
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fteawag:oai:dora:eawag_2425 2023-05-15T16:03:06+02:00 Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 Neftel, A. Beer, J. Oeschger, H. Zürcher, F. Finkel, R.C. 1985 https://doi.org/10.1038/314611a0 eng eng Springer Nature Nature--Nature--journals:2176--0028-0836--1476-4687 eawag:2425 journal id: journals:2176 issn: 0028-0836 e-issn: 1476-4687 ut: A1985AFS5200041 local: 8216 scopus: 2-s2.0-0021890551 doi:10.1038/314611a0 Text Journal Article 1985 fteawag https://doi.org/10.1038/314611a0 2023-04-09T04:48:58Z An understanding of the phenomenon of acid rain requires the identification of the sources of the species affecting the pH of rainwater, both natural and anthropogenic, and their temporal and spatial development. The scant data concerning the historical development of the acidity in precipitation are from urban regions or their vicinity, where local effects dominate and obscure the hemispherical pattern 1 . The Greenland ice sheet allows us to trace the evolution of the acid rain in a remote location that is free from local effects. Sulphuric and nitric acids are the two species that dominate the acidity in precipitation 2-4 . We report here measurements of [SO 4 2- ] and [NO 3 - ] in firn samples spanning the period 1895-1978. Samples, each covering 1 yr, were taken from a 70-m core drilled at Dye 3, South Greenland; [NO 3 - ] and [SO 4 2- ] both increased by a factor of ̃2 during the period. By comparing the recent concentrations of nitrate and sulphate with those resulting from natural sources, we conclude that anthropogenic emissions of the precursors (NO x , SO 2 ) had already surpassed natural sources in the late 1950s. Article in Journal/Newspaper Dye 3 Dye-3 Greenland Ice Sheet DORA Eawag Greenland Nature 314 6012 611 613 |
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language |
English |
description |
An understanding of the phenomenon of acid rain requires the identification of the sources of the species affecting the pH of rainwater, both natural and anthropogenic, and their temporal and spatial development. The scant data concerning the historical development of the acidity in precipitation are from urban regions or their vicinity, where local effects dominate and obscure the hemispherical pattern 1 . The Greenland ice sheet allows us to trace the evolution of the acid rain in a remote location that is free from local effects. Sulphuric and nitric acids are the two species that dominate the acidity in precipitation 2-4 . We report here measurements of [SO 4 2- ] and [NO 3 - ] in firn samples spanning the period 1895-1978. Samples, each covering 1 yr, were taken from a 70-m core drilled at Dye 3, South Greenland; [NO 3 - ] and [SO 4 2- ] both increased by a factor of ̃2 during the period. By comparing the recent concentrations of nitrate and sulphate with those resulting from natural sources, we conclude that anthropogenic emissions of the precursors (NO x , SO 2 ) had already surpassed natural sources in the late 1950s. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Neftel, A. Beer, J. Oeschger, H. Zürcher, F. Finkel, R.C. |
spellingShingle |
Neftel, A. Beer, J. Oeschger, H. Zürcher, F. Finkel, R.C. Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 |
author_facet |
Neftel, A. Beer, J. Oeschger, H. Zürcher, F. Finkel, R.C. |
author_sort |
Neftel, A. |
title |
Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 |
title_short |
Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 |
title_full |
Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 |
title_fullStr |
Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from South Greenland 1895-1978 |
title_sort |
sulfate and nitrate concentrations in snow from south greenland 1895-1978 |
publisher |
Springer Nature |
publishDate |
1985 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/314611a0 |
geographic |
Greenland |
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Greenland |
genre |
Dye 3 Dye-3 Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Dye 3 Dye-3 Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
Nature--Nature--journals:2176--0028-0836--1476-4687 eawag:2425 journal id: journals:2176 issn: 0028-0836 e-issn: 1476-4687 ut: A1985AFS5200041 local: 8216 scopus: 2-s2.0-0021890551 doi:10.1038/314611a0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/314611a0 |
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Nature |
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314 |
container_issue |
6012 |
container_start_page |
611 |
op_container_end_page |
613 |
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1766398734135984128 |