Victoria Land Antarctica Pb and Ba concentrations and Pb isotope ratios 1872-1994 CE

Pb and Ba concentrations and Pb isotopic compositions are reported for firn core and snow pit samples from Victoria Land, Antarctica, dating from 1872 AD to 1994 AD. From variations in Pb/Ba ratios and Pb isotopic compositions, two periods of major Pb enhancements were identified, from 1891 to 1908...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Van de Velde, K, Vallelonga, Paul T, Candelone, Jean-Pierre, Rosman, K J R, Gaspari, Vania, Cozzi, Giulio, Barbante, Carlo, Udisti, Roberto, Cescon, Paolo, Boutron, Claude F
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2011
Subjects:
Electromechanical drill
dry hole
EMD-D
Hercules_Neve
Hercules Neve
Victoria Land
Antarctica
SNOWPIT
Snow pit
Styx
Styx Glacier
Antarctic
Coats Land
Hercules
Law Dome
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.763778
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.763778
Description
Summary:Pb and Ba concentrations and Pb isotopic compositions are reported for firn core and snow pit samples from Victoria Land, Antarctica, dating from 1872 AD to 1994 AD. From variations in Pb/Ba ratios and Pb isotopic compositions, two periods of major Pb enhancements were identified, from 1891 to 1908 AD and from 1948 to 1994 AD. The earlier pollution event is attributed to Pb emissions from non-ferrous metal production and coal combustion in the Southern Hemisphere and is in excellent agreement with coincident pollution inputs reported in firn/ice cores from two other regions of Antarctica, at Coats Land and Law Dome. Using Pb isotopic systematics, it was calculated that ~50% of Pb deposited in Victoria Land in 1897 originated from anthropogenic emission sources. The more recent period of Pb enhancements, from 1948 to 1994 AD, corresponds to the introduction and widespread use of gasoline alkyl Pb additives in automobiles in the Southern Hemisphere, with anthropogenic Pb inputs averaging 60% of total Pb but with large uncertainty. Intra- and inter-annual variations in Pb concentrations and isotopic compositions were evaluated in snow pits samples corresponding to the period 1991-1994. Substantial variations in Pb/ Ba and 206Pb/207Pb ratios were detected but the absence of a regular seasonal pattern for these parameters suggests that the transport and deposition of aerosols to the Antarctic ice sheet are complex and vary from year to year.

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