Abstract
Temperate glaciers are highly sensitive to climatic and environmental changes. Studying the chemical composition of snow, firn, and ice on temperate glaciers is important for understanding the variations in atmospheric circulation patterns, deposition conditions, and melting processes. To define snowpack chemistry and environmental significance, seven snowpacks (one snowpack in late autumn, two in winter, two in spring, and two in summer) were sampled in 2008/2009 on Baishui Glacier No. 1 in Mt. Yulong. Soluble ions in the winter snowpacks showed low values in the middle part but high values in the lower and upper parts, influenced by the atmospheric deposition of snow accumulation. The larger variations of ionic concentrations in the spring snowpacks were associated with the variable atmospheric patterns with high dust content in spring, leading to high ionic concentrations in the upper snowpack. Strong meltwater percolation resulted in quick migration and redistribution of ions for the profiles during the monsoon period. The ion elution sequence was Ca2+ > SO42− > NH4+ > K+ > NO3− > Na+ > Cl− > Mg2+. Factor analysis showed that NO3−, SO42−, NH4+ were mainly supplied by wet deposition-plus-anthropogenic input, while Cl− and Na+ originated from marine sources. Ca2+ and Mg2+ had multiple sources and the local terrestrial source was important because of locally exposed carbonate. The results suggest that chemical concentrations reflect mainly impurities supplied by atmospheric circulation and precipitation during periods of snow accumulation, as well as during the melting process.
Highlights
The mean ion concentrations for the snowpack samples collected from Baishui Glacier No 1 on the eastern slope of Mt
The mean concentrations of SO4 2− and NO3 − in snowpacks were higher than the mean value in a 10.3 m firn profile, which had seven complete annual layers (1997–2003), indicating the increasing anthropogenic input in this century [26]
The snowpacks sampled in November, December, and January present a similar distribution of ions, showing low values in the middle part of the profile and high values in the lower part and upper part
Summary
Yulong Snow Mountain (Mt. Yulong), located on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), is one of the high mountain glacial areas and is a natural laboratory for environmental sciences. Yulong), located on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), is one of the high mountain glacial areas and is a natural laboratory for environmental sciences These are temperate alpine glaciers that are sensitive indicators of climate change. Temperate glaciers are ideal regions for studying the chemical composition changes in snow, firn, and ice because temperate glaciers are highly sensitive to climatic and environmental changes. Environmental chemistry provides a valuable tool for better understanding the sources of atmospheric aerosols [4,5,6], atmosphere circulation [7,8,9], and past climatic and environmental changes [10,11].
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