Black Carbon Deposition onto the Greenland Ice Sheet: Particle Quantification and Characterization

• Main Author: Parma, Mallory
• Other Authors: Barker, Joel
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The Ohio State University 2015
• Subjects: black carbon; Leverett Glacier; char morphology; soot morphology; global climate change; Arctic; Greenland; Climate change; glacier; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/72056

Black carbon (BC), resulting from the incomplete combustion of biofuels and fossil fuels, has become the second most influential climate forcing mechanism on Earth (Bond and Sun, 2005). As variations in BC morphology reflect emission source, the examination and quantification of BC in glacier ice and snow may reveal spatial and temporal trends of the origin and abundance of BC in arctic ecosystems. This study analyzed BC particle size distribution, concentration, and morphology of twelve samples from Leverett Glacier, Greenland, in order to evaluate the magnitude and influence of specific anthropogenic activities on the carbon cycle. The results indicate four substantial findings that (1) the deposition of BC particles larger than 0.3µm is greater in fresh snow than in older ice, (2) the majority of BC particles measuring >0.3µm are smaller than 1µm, (3) BC particle size and abundance exhibit an inverse relationship, and (4) BC emissions from biofuel burning dominates the 2012 snowpack. These findings are important as they indicate that the incomplete burning of biofuels including coal and wood has significant, detrimental influences on climate and public health. However, the reduction of BC emissions globally by, for example, efficient biomass and fossil fuel burning methods, would decrease these deleterious BC-mediated effects. Climate, Water, and Carbon Seed Grant Program No embargo