Snow Chemistry Across Antarctica

• Main Authors: Bertler, Nancy, Mayewski, Paul Andrew, Aristarain, Alberto, Barrett, P., Becagli, S., Bernardo, Ronaldo Torma, Cunde, Xiao, Curran, M., Dahe, Qin, Dixon, Daniel, Ferron, Francisco Adolfo, Fischer, H., Frey, Markus, Frezzotti, M., Fundel, F., Genthon, Christophe, Gragani, R., Hamilton, Gordon, Handley, M., Hong, Sungmin, Isaksson, E., Jiawen, Ren, Kamiyama, Kokichi, Kanamori, Satoru, Karkas, Eija, Karlöf, L., Kaspari, S., Kreutz, K., Kurbatov, A., Meyerson, E., Motoyama, Hideaki, Mulvaney, R., Mingjun, Zhang, Oerter, H., Osterberg, E., Proposito, M., Pyne, A., Ruth, U., Simoes, Jefferson Cardia, Smith, B., Sneed, S., Teinila, Kimmo, Traufetter, F., Udisti, R., Virkkula, Aki, Watanabe, Okitsugu, Williamson, B., Wolff, E., Zhongqin, Li
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@UMaine 2005
• Subjects: Glaciogeology; Geochemistry; Glaciology; Geomorphology; Climate Change; Atmospheric Sciences; Earth Sciences; Fresh Water Studies; Hydrology; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ers_facpub/224; https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/context/ers_facpub/article/1229/viewcontent/SnowChemistryAcrossAntarctica.pdf; https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/context/ers_facpub/article/1229/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/SnowChemistryAcrossAntarctica_DataTable.pdf

An updated compilation of published and new data of major-ion (Ca, Cl, K, Mg, Na, NO3, SO4) and methylsulfonate (MS) concentrations in snow from 520 Antarctic sites is provided by the national ITASE (International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition) programmes of Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and the national Antarctic programme of Finland. The comparison shows that snow chemistry concentrations vary by up to four orders of magnitude across Antarctica and exhibit distinct geographical patterns. The Antarctic-wide comparison of glaciochemical records provides a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the fundamental factors that ultimately control the chemistry of snow or ice samples. This paper aims to initiate data compilation and administration in order to provide a framework for facilitation of Antarctic-wide snow chemistry discussions across all ITASE nations and other contributing groups. The data are made available through the ITASE web page (http:// www2.umaine.edu/itase/content/syngroups/snowchem.html) and will be updated with new data as they are provided. In addition, recommendations for future research efforts are summarized.