Lomonosovfonna and Holtedahlfonna ice cores reveal east–west disparities of the Spitsbergen environment since AD 1700

Abstract

An ice core extracted from Holtedahlfonna ice cap, western Spitsbergen, record spanning the period 1700–2005, was analyzed for major ions. The leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) component is correlated with an index of summer melt (log([Na+]/[Mg2+]) from 1850 and shows that almost 50% of the variance can be attributed to seasonal melting since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The Holtedahlfonna δ18O value is less negative than in the more easterly Lomonosovfonna ice core, suggesting that moist air masses originate from a closer source, most likely the Greenland Sea. During the Little Ice Age the lower methanesulfonic acid (MSA) concentration and MSA non-sea-salt sulfate fraction are consistent with the Greenland Sea as the main source for biogenic ions in the ice cores. Both the melt index and the MSA fraction suggest that the early decades of the 18th century may have exhibited the coldest summers of the last 300 years in Svalbard. Ammonium concentrations rise from 1880, which may result from the warming of the Greenland Sea or from zonal differences in atmospheric pollution transport over Svalbard. During winter, neutralized aerosols are trapped within the tropospheric inversion layer, which is usually weaker over open seas than over sea ice, placing Holtedahlfonna within the inversion more frequently than Lomonosovfonna.

Dynamic perennial firn aquifer on an Arctic glacier

“…The cross-sectional area A for parallel flow is unit width times the permeable thickness below the water table. This is not known accurately, but monopulse 10 MHz radar soundings in the area [Beaudon et al, 2013, Figure 2] image a bright package of reflectors that gradually dim at 20 to 30 m depths, likely representing the diffuse transition from water-saturated firn to ice. We thus estimate the thickness of the PFA to be 10 to 20 m.…”

“…These depth changes cause the PFA water table to crosscut stratigraphic layers, most prominently near the edges of surface lows (Figure 3). [Beaudon et al, 2013]. The 95% confidence interval for the exponential fit is marked in gray.…”

Nitrate stable isotopes and major ions in snow and ice samples from four Svalbard sites

“…1130 m a.s.l). Indications of an eastÁwest gradient in snow chemistry across Svalbard were reported by others for major ions (Beaudon et al 2013), pesticides (Ruggirello et al 2010) and BC (Forsströ m et al 2009) in snow and firn.…”

Do contemporary (1980–2015) emissions determine the elemental carbon deposition trend at Holtedahlfonna glacier, Svalbard?

“…The precipitation amount at the sites is considered the same, and therefore wind drift, summer melt and sublimation are the probable causes for the different net snow accumulation at the sites. Summer melt occurs frequently on Holtedahlfonna (Beaudon et al, 2013). However, BC has a low post-depositional scavenging efficiency due to its hydrophobic properties; i.e.…”