Proxies and measurement techniques for mineral dust in Antarctic ice cores

To improve quantitative interpretation of ice core aeolian dust records, a systematic methodological comparison was made. This involved methods for water-insoluble particle counting (Coulter counter and laser-sensing particle detector), soluble ion analysis (ion chromatography and continuous flow an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Science & Technology
Main Authors: Ruth, U, Barbante, C, Bigler, M, Fischer, U, Gabrielli, P, Gaspari, V, Kaufmann, P, Lambert, F, Marino, F, Petit, JR, Udisti, R, Wagenbach, D, Wegner, A, Wolff, E., DELMONTE, BARBARA, MAGGI, VALTER
Other Authors: Delmonte, B, Maggi, V, Petit, J, Wolff, E
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley-Interscience 2008
Subjects:
ice cores
dust
ICPMS
particle counting
chemistry
GEO/04 - GEOGRAFIA FISICA E GEOMORFOLOGIA
Antarctic
Coulter
Dronning Maud Land
Antarc*
EPICA
ice core
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10281/9047
https://doi.org/10.1021/es703078z
Description
Summary:To improve quantitative interpretation of ice core aeolian dust records, a systematic methodological comparison was made. This involved methods for water-insoluble particle counting (Coulter counter and laser-sensing particle detector), soluble ion analysis (ion chromatography and continuous flow analysis), elemental analysis (inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy at pH 1 and after full acid digestion), and water-insoluble elemental analysis (proton induced X-ray emission). Antarctic ice core samples covering the last deglaciation from the EPICA Dome C (EDC) and the EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) cores were used. All methods correlate very well among each other, but the ratios of glacial age to Holocene concentrations, which are typically a factor ∼100, differ between the methods by up to a factor of 2 with insoluble particles showing the largest variability. The recovery of ICP-MS measurements depends on the digestion method and is different for different elements and during different climatic periods. EDC and EDML samples have similar dust composition, which suggests a common dust source or a common mixture of sources for the two sites. The analyzed samples further reveal a change of dust composition during the last deglaciation. © 2008 American Chemical Society.

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