Seasonality of isotopic and chemical species and biomass burning signals remaining in wet snow in the accumulation area of Sofiyskiy Glacier, Russian Altai Mountains

• Main Authors: Takao Kameda, Yoshiyuki Fujii, Fumihiko Nishio, Lev M. Savatyugin, Serguei M. Arkhipov, Ivan A. Ponomarev, Nikolay N. Mikhailov
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Kitami Institute of Technology/National Institute of Polar Research/Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University/Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute/Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences/Faculty of Geography, Altai State University/Faculty of Geography, Altai State University 2003
• Subjects: Polar meteorology and glaciology
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2957; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002957/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2957&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Preliminary glaciological investigation was carried out on the accumulation area of Sofiyskiy Glacier, Russian Altai Mountains in July 2000. Analyses of a 12.3m core and 3m deep pit samples show that seasonal variations of δ^<18>O, tritium and melt features remained in the wet snow layers. Annual layer thickness determined on the basis of seasonality of these elements for 12.3m core is 0.99m of water on average in 1994-1999 with a minimum in 1998 when the minimum mass balance was observed for three other glaciers in the Altai Mountains. High correlations of NH_4^+ concentration with concentrations of K^+, SO_4^2, NO_3^- and PO_4^<3-> are found. NH_4^+ and K^+ are considered to be of biomass burning origin, and PO_4^<3-> and NH_4^+ are due to chemical ingredients used for fire extinction in biomass burning.