Abstract
Abstract. Biomass burning generates a wide range of organic compounds that are transported via aerosols to the polar ice sheets. Vanillic acid is a product of conifer lignin combustion, which has previously been observed in laboratory and ambient biomass burning aerosols. In this study a method was developed for analysis of vanillic acid in melted polar ice core samples. Vanillic acid was chromatographically separated using reversed-phase liquid chromatography (HPLC) and detected using electrospray ionization–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). Using a 100 μL injection loop and analysis time of 4 min, we obtained a detection limit of 77 ppt (parts per trillion by mass) and an analytical precision of ±10%. Measurements of vanillic acid in Arctic ice core samples from the Siberian Akademii Nauk core are shown as an example application of the method.
Highlights
Biomass burning is an important part of the global carbon cycle and has a major impact on global atmospheric chemistry
This study demonstrates the feasibility of analyzing small ice core samples using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ESI-MS/MS with minimal sample handling
The development of such rapid, low-volume, high-sensitivity analytical methods for analysis of organic compounds is needed in order to fully exploit the paleoenvironmental information stored in the polar ice archive
Summary
Biomass burning is an important part of the global carbon cycle and has a major impact on global atmospheric chemistry. Laboratory and field studies have shown that biomass burning aerosols contain a wide range of aromatic compounds whose chemistry is related to the structure of the precursor lignin material combusted (Simoneit, 2002). These lignin-derived methoxylated phenols, aldehydes, and acids have been used as tracers for the contribution of biomass. Kawamura et al (2012) detected vanillic acid in a Kamchatka Peninsula ice core using preconcentration, derivatization, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), similar to techniques used for the analysis of biomass burning aerosols (Nolte et al, 2001; Simoneit et al, 2004; Fu et al, 2008). Vanillic acid was detected using the mass spectrometer in the negative ion mode, with an ion inlet cone temperature of 350 ◦C
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