Spatial Variability of Snow Chemistry in Western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

During the austral summer of 1993-94 a number of 1-2 m deep snow pits were sampled in connection with firn-coring in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The traverse went from 800 to about 3000 m a.s.l. upon the high-altitude plateau. Profiles of cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+), anions (CI-, NO3-,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stenberg, Malin, Isaksson, Elisabeth, Hansson, Margareta, Karlén, Wibjörn, Mayewski, Paul Andrew, Twickler, Mark S., Whitlow, Sallie I., Gundestrup, Niels
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: DigitalCommons@UMaine 1998
Subjects:
Glaciogeology
Geochemistry
Glaciology
Cryology
Climate Change
Atmospheric Sciences
Climate
Earth Sciences
Hydrology
Austral
Dronning Maud Land
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ers_facpub/236
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1241&context=ers_facpub
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Summary:During the austral summer of 1993-94 a number of 1-2 m deep snow pits were sampled in connection with firn-coring in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The traverse went from 800 to about 3000 m a.s.l. upon the high-altitude plateau. Profiles of cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+), anions (CI-, NO3-, SO42-, CH3SO3-) and stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) from II snow pits are presented here. Close to the coast 2 m of snow accumulates in about 2-3 years, whilst at sites on the high-altitude plateau 2 m of snow accumulates in 10-14 years. The spatial variation in ion concentrations shows that the ions can be divided into two groups, one with sea-salt elements and methane sulfonate and the other with nitrate and sulfate. For the sea-salt elements and methane sulfonate the concentrations decrease with increasing altitude and increasing distance from the coast, as well as with decreasing temperature and decreasing accumulation rate. For nitrate and sulfate the concentrations are constant or increase with respect to these parameters. This pattern suggests that the sources for sea-salt elements and methane sulfonate are local, whereas the sources for nitrate and sulfate are a mixture of local and long-range transport.

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