A two hundred years record of atmospheric cadmium, copper and zinc concentrations in high altitude snow and ice from the French‐Italian Alps

Velde, Katja Van de; Boutron, Claude F.; Ferrari, Christophe; Moreau, Ann-Laure; Delmas, Robert J.; Barbante, Carlo; Bellomi, T.; Capodaglio, Gabriele; Cescon, Paolo

doi:10.1029/1999gl010786

Cited by 49 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Preindustrial Pb concentration increases in Greenland have been linked to Pb mining and smelting performed in the Mediterranean region during the Greek, Roman, and Medieval periods (8,12), indicating the hemispheric-scale impact of early anthropogenic activities. In contrast, ice cores recovered from midlatitudes provide evidence for anthropogenic aerosol emissions from the late 19th century in the European Alps (13,14) and from the middle of the 20th century in the Himalaya (6,15). This suggests an asynchronous postindustrial impact on the atmosphere in various parts of the Northern Hemisphere.…”

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confidence: 88%

Widespread pollution of the South American atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y

Uglietti

Gabrielli

Cooke

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In the Southern Hemisphere, evidence for preindustrial atmospheric pollution is restricted to a few geological archives of low temporal resolution that record trace element deposition originating from past mining and metallurgical operations in South America. Therefore, the timing and the spatial impact of these activities on the past atmosphere remain poorly constrained. Here we present an annually resolved ice core record (A.D. 793–1989) from the high-altitude drilling site of Quelccaya (Peru) that archives preindustrial and industrial variations in trace elements. During the precolonial period (i.e., pre-A.D. 1532), the deposition of trace elements was mainly dominated by the fallout of aeolian dust and of ash from occasional volcanic eruptions, indicating that metallurgic production during the Inca Empire (A.D. 1438−1532) had a negligible impact on the South American atmosphere. In contrast, a widespread anthropogenic signal is evident after around A.D. 1540, which corresponds with the beginning of colonial mining and metallurgy in Peru and Bolivia, ∼240 y before the Industrial Revolution. This shift was due to a major technological transition for silver extraction in South America (A.D. 1572), from lead-based smelting to mercury amalgamation, which precipitated a massive increase in mining activities. However, deposition of toxic trace metals during the Colonial era was still several factors lower than 20th century pollution that was unprecedented over the entirety of human history.

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mentioning

confidence: 88%

Widespread pollution of the South American atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y

Uglietti

Gabrielli

Cooke

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In contrast, ice core records from the western Alps typically extend over just a few centuries (Barbante et al, 2004;Preunkert et al, 2001;Schwikowski et al, 1999a;Van de Velde et al, 2000b). However, the ice embedded in the deepest layers of Alto dell'Ortles dates to the demise of the Northern Hemisphere Climate Optimum (NHCO), and is among the oldest ice discovered in the European Alps, exceeded in age only by the ice more than 10 kyrs old retrieved at Colle Gnifetti .…”

Section: Age Of the Bottom Icementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Depending on the ice mass available, analyses of beta activity (Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, BPCRC) and tritium (University of Bern and University of Venice) were performed with various degrees of continuity and resolution in various sections of the cores using established methods (Maggi et al, 1998;Schotterer et al, 1998;van der Veen et al, 2001) (Fig. 8).…”

Section: Beta Activity and Tritiummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until recently, alpine ice core records have been obtained only from the western Alps (Barbante et al, , 2004Jenk et al, 2009;Legrand et al, 2003;Preunkert et al, 2000Preunkert et al, , 2001Schwikowski et al, 1999a, b;Van de Velde et al, 2000a;Wagenbach et al, 1988) because of their high elevation and the consequent common occurrence of the cold firn zone (Golubev, 1975;Haeberli and Alean, 1985), which is more likely to retain climatic and environmental signals (Eichler et al, 2001). In contrast, because of their lower elevation, the highest glaciers in the eastern Alps were assumed to be entirely within the temperate firn zone, and thus unsuitable for preserving intact ice core records (Oerter et al, 1985).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age of the Mt. Ortles ice cores, the Tyrolean Iceman and glaciation of the highest summit of South Tyrol since the Northern Hemisphere Climatic Optimum

et al. 2016

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Abstract. In 2011 four ice cores were extracted from the summit of Alto dell'Ortles (3859 m), the highest glacier of South Tyrol in the Italian Alps. This drilling site is located only 37 km southwest from where the Tyrolean Iceman, ∼ 5.3 kyrs old, was discovered emerging from the ablating ice field of Tisenjoch (3210 m, near the Italian-Austrian border) in 1991. The excellent preservation of this mummy suggested that the Tyrolean Iceman was continuously embedded in prehistoric ice and that additional ancient ice was likely preserved elsewhere in South Tyrol. Dating of the ice cores from Alto dell'Ortles based on 210 Pb, tritium, beta activity and 14 C determinations, combined with an empirical model (COPRA), provides evidence for a chronologically ordered ice stratigraphy from the modern glacier surface down to the bottom ice layers with an age of ∼ 7 kyrs, which confirms the hypothesis. Our results indicate that the drilling site has continuously been glaciated on frozen bedrock since ∼ 7 kyrs BP. Absence of older ice on the highest glacier of South Tyrol is consistent with the removal of basal ice from bedrock during the Northern Hemisphere Climatic Optimum (6-9 kyrs BP), the warmest interval in the European Alps during the Holocene. Borehole inclinometric measurements of the current glacier flow combined with surface ground penetration radar (GPR) measurements indicate that, due to the sustained atmospheric warming since the 1980s, an acceleration of the glacier Alto dell'Ortles flow has just recently begun. Given the stratigraphic-chronological continuity of the Mt. Ortles cores over millennia, it can be argued that this behaviour has been unprecedented at this location since the Northern Hemisphere Climatic Optimum.

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“…Watersoluble potassium is a good tracer for biomass burning (Andreae, 1983), and elemental Al and Fe could be the good markers of crustal dust Lafon et al, 2004;Wedepohl, 1995). Investigations of chemical species in snow and ice have allowed us to obtain important information to identify their source attributions in the Arctic, Greenland, Antarctic, North America, and Russia, and a great deal of attention has been focused on the Himalayas ( Van de Velde et al, 2000;Rosman et al, 2000;Barbante et al, 2003;Schwikowski et al, 2004;Hong et al, 2004;Li et al, 2006Li et al, , 2007Hegg et al, 2009Hegg et al, , 2010Dang and Hegg, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water-soluble ions and trace elements in surface snow and their potential source regions across northeastern China

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2015

Atmospheric Environment

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h i g h l i g h t sWe collected 92 snow samples from 13 sites across northeastern China. The snow in the remote northeast on the border near Siberia was extremely clean. Al, and Fe were primarily derived from natural sources. Cu, Zn, As, V, and Cd in snow samples were likely derived from anthropogenic sources. a b s t r a c tWe collected 92 snow samples from 13 sites across northeastern China from January 7 to February 15, 2014. The surface snow samples were analyzed for the major water-soluble ions (SO 2À 4 , NO À 3 , F e , Cl e , Na þ , K þ , Ca 2þ , Mg 2þ , and NH þ 4 ) and trace element (Al, As, Mn, V, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe, Cr, and Ni). The results indicated that the higher concentrations of NO À 3 and SO 2À 4 and the trace elements Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cu were likely attributable to enhanced local industrial emissions in East Asia especially in China. In addition, snow samples characterized by higher enrichment factors of trace elements (Cu, Cd, As, Zn, Pb) were indicative of an anthropogenic source. Emissions from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning were likely important contributors to the chemical elements in seasonal snow with long-range transport. On the other hand, the large attribution of K þ appeared in the higher latitude demonstrated that biomass burning was a dominated factor of the chemical species in seasonal snow in the higher latitude of China than that in the lower latitude. Finally, an interannual comparison with the 2010 China snow survey also confirmed the source attributions of chemical speciation in seasonal snow in these regions.

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A two hundred years record of atmospheric cadmium, copper and zinc concentrations in high altitude snow and ice from the French‐Italian Alps

Cited by 49 publications

References 14 publications

Widespread pollution of the South American atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y

Widespread pollution of the South American atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y

Age of the Mt. Ortles ice cores, the Tyrolean Iceman and glaciation of the highest summit of South Tyrol since the Northern Hemisphere Climatic Optimum

Water-soluble ions and trace elements in surface snow and their potential source regions across northeastern China

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