Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core

Black carbon (BC) is an important climate-forcing agent that affects snow albedo. In this work, we present a record of refractory black carbon (rBC) variability, measured from a 20 m deep snow and firn core drilled in West Antarctica (79∘55′34.6′′ S, 94∘21′13.3′′ W, 2122 m above sea level) during th...

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Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: L. Marquetto, S. Kaspari, J. Cardia Simões
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2020
Subjects:
geo
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1537-2020
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1537/2020/tc-14-1537-2020.pdf
https://doaj.org/article/826416e1907d4779b3bbd14e242d3201
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spelling fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:826416e1907d4779b3bbd14e242d3201 2023-05-15T13:24:18+02:00 Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core L. Marquetto S. Kaspari J. Cardia Simões 2020-05-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1537-2020 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1537/2020/tc-14-1537-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/article/826416e1907d4779b3bbd14e242d3201 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-14-1537-2020 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1537/2020/tc-14-1537-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/article/826416e1907d4779b3bbd14e242d3201 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 1537-1554 (2020) geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2020 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1537-2020 2023-01-22T19:11:29Z Black carbon (BC) is an important climate-forcing agent that affects snow albedo. In this work, we present a record of refractory black carbon (rBC) variability, measured from a 20 m deep snow and firn core drilled in West Antarctica (79∘55′34.6′′ S, 94∘21′13.3′′ W, 2122 m above sea level) during the 2014–2015 austral summer. This is the highest elevation rBC record from West Antarctica. The core was analyzed using the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) coupled to a CETAC Marin-5 nebulizer. Results show a well-defined seasonality with geometric mean concentrations of 0.015 µg L−1 for the wet season (austral summer–fall) and 0.057 µg L−1 for the dry season (austral winter–spring). The core was dated to 47 years (1968–2015) using rBC seasonality as the main parameter, along with sodium (Na), sulfur (S) and strontium (Sr) variations. The annual rBC concentration geometric mean was 0.03 µg L−1, the lowest of all rBC cores in Antarctica referenced in this work, while the annual rBC flux was 6.25 µg m−2 a−1, the lowest flux in West Antarctica rBC records. No long-term trend was observed. Snow albedo reductions at the site due to BC were simulated using SNICAR online and found to be insignificant (−0.48 %) compared to clean snow. Fire spot inventory and BC emission estimates from the Southern Hemisphere suggest Australia and Southern Hemisphere South America as the most probable emission sources of BC to the drilling site, whereas HYSPLIT model particle transport simulations from 1968 to 2015 support Australia and New Zealand as rBC sources, with limited contributions from South America. Spectral analysis (REDFIT method) of the BC record showed cycles related to the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) and to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but cycles in common with the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) were not detected. Correlation of rBC records in Antarctica with snow accumulation, elevation and distance to the sea suggests rBC transport to East Antarctica is different from transport to West Antarctica. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica The Cryosphere West Antarctica Unknown Amundsen Sea Antarctic Austral East Antarctica New Zealand The Antarctic West Antarctica The Cryosphere 14 5 1537 1554
institution Open Polar
collection Unknown
op_collection_id fttriple
language English
topic geo
envir
spellingShingle geo
envir
L. Marquetto
S. Kaspari
J. Cardia Simões
Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
topic_facet geo
envir
description Black carbon (BC) is an important climate-forcing agent that affects snow albedo. In this work, we present a record of refractory black carbon (rBC) variability, measured from a 20 m deep snow and firn core drilled in West Antarctica (79∘55′34.6′′ S, 94∘21′13.3′′ W, 2122 m above sea level) during the 2014–2015 austral summer. This is the highest elevation rBC record from West Antarctica. The core was analyzed using the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) coupled to a CETAC Marin-5 nebulizer. Results show a well-defined seasonality with geometric mean concentrations of 0.015 µg L−1 for the wet season (austral summer–fall) and 0.057 µg L−1 for the dry season (austral winter–spring). The core was dated to 47 years (1968–2015) using rBC seasonality as the main parameter, along with sodium (Na), sulfur (S) and strontium (Sr) variations. The annual rBC concentration geometric mean was 0.03 µg L−1, the lowest of all rBC cores in Antarctica referenced in this work, while the annual rBC flux was 6.25 µg m−2 a−1, the lowest flux in West Antarctica rBC records. No long-term trend was observed. Snow albedo reductions at the site due to BC were simulated using SNICAR online and found to be insignificant (−0.48 %) compared to clean snow. Fire spot inventory and BC emission estimates from the Southern Hemisphere suggest Australia and Southern Hemisphere South America as the most probable emission sources of BC to the drilling site, whereas HYSPLIT model particle transport simulations from 1968 to 2015 support Australia and New Zealand as rBC sources, with limited contributions from South America. Spectral analysis (REDFIT method) of the BC record showed cycles related to the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) and to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but cycles in common with the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) were not detected. Correlation of rBC records in Antarctica with snow accumulation, elevation and distance to the sea suggests rBC transport to East Antarctica is different from transport to West Antarctica.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author L. Marquetto
S. Kaspari
J. Cardia Simões
author_facet L. Marquetto
S. Kaspari
J. Cardia Simões
author_sort L. Marquetto
title Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
title_short Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
title_full Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
title_fullStr Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
title_full_unstemmed Refractory black carbon (rBC) variability in a 47-year West Antarctic snow and firn core
title_sort refractory black carbon (rbc) variability in a 47-year west antarctic snow and firn core
publisher Copernicus Publications
publishDate 2020
url https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1537-2020
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1537/2020/tc-14-1537-2020.pdf
https://doaj.org/article/826416e1907d4779b3bbd14e242d3201
geographic Amundsen Sea
Antarctic
Austral
East Antarctica
New Zealand
The Antarctic
West Antarctica
geographic_facet Amundsen Sea
Antarctic
Austral
East Antarctica
New Zealand
The Antarctic
West Antarctica
genre Amundsen Sea
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
East Antarctica
The Cryosphere
West Antarctica
genre_facet Amundsen Sea
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
East Antarctica
The Cryosphere
West Antarctica
op_source The Cryosphere, Vol 14, Pp 1537-1554 (2020)
op_relation doi:10.5194/tc-14-1537-2020
1994-0416
1994-0424
https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1537/2020/tc-14-1537-2020.pdf
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container_title The Cryosphere
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