Abstract

Chemical ions and dust particles deposited in snow can be used as indicators of climatic and environmental processes. Understanding their sources, energy transfer and evolutionary mechanisms is extremely important in tracking regional climate and environmental changes. We collected snow samples from three pits at different altitudes and from the surface of Yushugou Glacier No. 6, Tianshan Mountains, China, in the summers of 2017 and 2018. Sea-salt tracing, correlation analysis and factor analysis were used to determine the characteristics and sources of the major ions and mineral dust particles in the snow. We found obvious seasonal variations, with high concentrations of dust particles and major ions deposited during the dust period, and relatively low concentrations deposited during the non-dust period. The concentrations peaked within two distinct dust layers in the snow pits. There was a significant correlation between the peak values and the dust layer. The ionic concentrations were ranked from highest to lowest as Ca2+ > SO42- > Cl- > Na+ > NO3- > NH4+ > Mg2+ > K+. Therefore, SO42- was the dominate anion and Ca2+ was the dominate cation. The major ions in the snow at Yushugou Glacier No. 6 are mainly derived from terrestrial mineral dust but also include limited inputs from human activities and sea salt.

Highlights

  • The cryosphere is a part of the Earth’s surface where temperatures are continuously below the freezing point of water

  • Dibb et al (2007) found that the main cations and anions in snow on the Greenland Ice Sheet were NH4+ and NO3−. This is quite different from our result, reflecting regional differences in the chemical ions deposited in snow

  • The conductivity of the snow pits was higher than that of the surface snow. This is most probably because the surface snow contains the recent snowfall in the glacier area, while the snow in pits represents the accumulation of snow and atmospheric chemicals over a long period of time (Niu et al, 2013)

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The cryosphere is a part of the Earth’s surface where temperatures are continuously below the freezing point of water. Chemical studies on ice and snow in alpine glaciers are important because snow and glaciers can provide crucial information about climatic and environmental change as they are sites where atmospheric chemical components are deposited; for example, chemical ions, aerosol dust particles, trace metals, δ18O, greenhouse gases, and black carbon Chemical ions and dust particles deposited in snow reflect the influences of both atmospheric circulation patterns and the regional environment (Eichler et al, 2001; Li et al, 2007; Ming et al, 2009). The amount of dust particles in snow tends to decrease from north to south

Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text

Published Version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.