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Organic compounds, radiocarbon, trace elements and atmospheric transport illuminating sources of elemental carbon in a 300-year svalbard ice core.
J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 128:e2022JD038378 (2023)
Black carbon (BC) particles produced by incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels warm the atmosphere and decrease the reflectivity of snow and ice, hastening their melt. Although the significance of BC in Arctic climate change is widely acknowledged, observations on its deposition and sources are few. We present BC source types in a 300-year (1700–2005) Svalbard ice core by analysis of particle-bound organic compounds, radiocarbon, and trace elements. According to the radiocarbon results, 58% of the deposited elemental carbon (EC, thermal-optical proxy of BC) is of non-fossil origin throughout the record, while the organic compounds suggest a higher percentage (68%). The contribution of fossil fuels to EC is suggested to have been elevated between 1860 and 1920, particularly based on the organics and trace element data. A second increase in fossil fuel sources seems to have occurred near the end of the record: according to radiocarbon measurements between 1960 and 1990, while the organics and trace element data suggest that the contribution of fossil fuels has increased since the 1970s to the end of the record, along with observed increasing EC deposition. Modeled atmospheric transport between 1948 and 2004 shows that increasing EC deposition observed at the glacier during that period can be associated with increased atmospheric transport from Far East Asia. Further observational BC source data are essential to help target climate change mitigation efforts. The combination of robust radiocarbon with organic compound analyses requiring low sample amounts seems a promising approach for comprehensive Arctic BC source apportionment.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Atmospheric Transport ; Black Carbon ; Emission Sources ; Environmental Pollution; Positive Matrix Factorization; Black Carbon; Source Apportionment; Molecular Tracers; Tibetan Plateau; N-alkanes; Emissions; Aerosol; Snow; Deposition
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2169-897X
e-ISSN
2169-8996
Quellenangaben
Volume: 128,
Issue: 16,
Article Number: e2022JD038378
Publisher
Wiley
Publishing Place
Hoboken, NJ
Non-patent literature
Publications
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Grants
Kone Foundation FLARE project
Flagship of Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center
Research Council of Finland
Flagship of Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center
Research Council of Finland