Abstract
Abstract. Sea ice is an important parameter in the climate system and its changes impact upon the polar albedo and atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Iodine (I) and bromine (Br) have been measured in a shallow firn core drilled at the summit of the Holtedahlfonna glacier (Northwest Spitsbergen, Svalbard). Changing I concentrations can be linked to the March–May maximum sea ice extension. Bromine enrichment, indexed to the Br / Na sea water mass ratio, appears to be influenced by changes in the seasonal sea ice area. I is emitted from marine biota and so the retreat of March–May sea ice coincides with enlargement of the open-ocean surface which enhances marine primary production and consequent I emission. The observed Br enrichment could be explained by greater Br emissions during the Br explosions that have been observed to occur mainly above first year sea ice during the early springtime. In this work we present the first comparison between halogens in surface snow and Arctic sea ice extension. Although further investigation is required to characterize potential depositional and post-depositional processes, these preliminary findings suggest that I and Br can be linked to variability in the spring maximum sea ice extension and seasonal sea ice surface area.
Highlights
Sea ice is an important parameter of the Earth climate system as it affects global albedo and the net radiation balance of the Earth (Francis et al, 2009), as well as oceanic circulation (Holland et al, 2001)
Sea ice is an important parameter in the climate system and its changes impact upon the polar albedo and atmospheric and oceanic circulation
In this work we present the first comparison between halogens in surface snow and Arctic sea ice extension
Summary
Sea ice is an important parameter of the Earth climate system as it affects global albedo and the net radiation balance of the Earth (Francis et al, 2009), as well as oceanic circulation (Holland et al, 2001). Accurate reconstruction of sea ice variability before the satellite era is important for understanding interactions between sea ice extension and both the forcing and effects of climatic changes. These results are important for model calibration. Simpson et al (2007) and Kaleschke et al (2004) revealed that the occurrence of bromine explosions are linked with the presence of first-year sea ice and in particular with the fresh snow above first year sea ice (Pratt et al, 2013) These observations are detected above Arctic sea ice where the atmospheric content of BrO is enhanced in spring time (Sihler et al, 2012). The results suggest that the variations in iodine concentration could be associated with changes in March– May sea ice extension, while bromine enrichment (relative to the Br / Na sea water mass ratio) is related to the variation of seasonal sea ice surface area
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