Brief communication: Spatial and temporal variations in surface snow chemistry along a traverse from coastal East Antarctica to the ice sheet summit (Dome A)

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: G. Shi, H. Ma, Z. Hu, Z. Chen, C. An, S. Jiang, Y. Li, T. Ma, J. Yu, D. Wang, S. Lu, B. Sun, M. G. Hastings
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2021
• Subjects: geo; envir; Antarctic; East Antarctica; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Sea ice; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1087-2021; https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/1087/2021/tc-15-1087-2021.pdf; https://doaj.org/article/802a913280b64af0aa357af5392080df

To better understand snow chemistry in different environments across the Antarctic ice sheet, we investigated snow ions on a traverse from the coast to Dome A. Results show that the non-sea-salt (nss) fractions of K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ are mainly from terrestrial particle mass and nssCl− is associated with HCl. Spatially, the non-sea-salt fractions of ions to the totals are higher in the interior areas than on the coast, and seasonally, the proportions are higher in summer than in winter. Negative nssSO42- on the coast indicates sea salts from the sea ice, and marine biogenic emissions dominate snow SO42- in interior areas throughout the year.