The role of the global cryosphere in the fate of organic contaminants

Grannas, A. M.; Bogdal, Christian; Hageman, Kimberly J.; Halsall, Crispin J.; Harner, Tom; Hung, Hayley; Kallenborn, Roland; Klán, Petr; Klánová, Jana; Macdonald, Robie W.; Meyer, Thorsten; Wania, Frank

doi:10.5194/acp-13-3271-2013

Cited by 132 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 240 publications

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“…The frozen soils of permafrost have historically been considered a barrier to the movement of contaminants and many waste and dump sites use containment strategies that rely on the low mobility of contaminants in permafrost soils (Grannas et al, 2013). However, the warming Arctic climate may lead to an increased mobility of contaminants, either stored in soils at waste sites or historically accumulated in permafrost, into Arctic surface waters (Armitage and Wania, 2013;Chételat et al, 2014).…”

Section: Mobilization Of Contaminantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic aquatic ecosystems

et al. 2015

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Abstract. The Arctic is a water-rich region, with freshwater systems covering about 16 % of the northern permafrost landscape. Permafrost thaw creates new freshwater ecosystems, while at the same time modifying the existing lakes, streams, and rivers that are impacted by thaw. Here, we describe the current state of knowledge regarding how permafrost thaw affects lentic (still) and lotic (moving) systems, exploring the effects of both thermokarst (thawing and collapse of ice-rich permafrost) and deepening of the active layer (the surface soil layer that thaws and refreezes each year). Within thermokarst, we further differentiate between the effects of thermokarst in lowland areas vs. that on hillslopes. For almost all of the processes that we explore, the effects of thaw vary regionally, and between lake and stream systems. Much of this regional variation is caused by differences in ground ice content, topography, soil type, and permafrost coverage. Together, these modifying factors determine (i) the degree to which permafrost thaw manifests as thermokarst, (ii) whether thermokarst leads to slumping or the formation of thermokarst lakes, and (iii) the manner in which constituent delivery to freshwater systems is altered by thaw. Differences in thaw-enabled constituent delivery can Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. J. E. Vonk et al.: Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic aquatic ecosystemsbe considerable, with these modifying factors determining, for example, the balance between delivery of particulate vs. dissolved constituents, and inorganic vs. organic materials. Changes in the composition of thaw-impacted waters, coupled with changes in lake morphology, can strongly affect the physical and optical properties of thermokarst lakes. The ecology of thaw-impacted lakes and streams is also likely to change; these systems have unique microbiological communities, and show differences in respiration, primary production, and food web structure that are largely driven by differences in sediment, dissolved organic matter, and nutrient delivery. The degree to which thaw enables the delivery of dissolved vs. particulate organic matter, coupled with the composition of that organic matter and the morphology and stratification characteristics of recipient systems will play an important role in determining the balance between the release of organic matter as greenhouse gases (CO 2 and CH 4 ), its burial in sediments, and its loss downstream. The magnitude of thaw impacts on northern aquatic ecosystems is increasing, as is the prevalence of thaw-impacted lakes and streams. There is therefore an urgent need to quantify how permafrost thaw is affecting aquatic ecosystems across diverse Arctic landscapes, and the implications of this change for further climate warming.

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Section: Mobilization Of Contaminantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic aquatic ecosystems

et al. 2015

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“…They also suppress photochemical reactions by acting as a filter of light and by scavenging reactive species (Grannas et al, 2007b). The environmental importance of organic compounds in ice is discussed in detail by McNeill et al (2012) and Grannas et al (2013). Abida and Osthoff (2011) recently reported that organic co-solutes ranging from formate to phenol inhibited the release of gasphase NO 2 from nitrate photolysis in ice, likely due to scavenging of OH.…”

Section: Chemical Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this review, we focus on atmospheric and cryospheric science of the polar regions, where chemistry and physical processes in snow have a far-ranging environmental impact (Grannas et al, 2013). The focus was placed on studies that showed the interplay of impurities with snow and ice and that characterised the structural environment down to a molecular level.…”

Section: Synthesis and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, from a global perspective the overall removal or transfer from the atmosphere to the soil and oceans is likely smaller than the depositional fluxes, because species like nitrogen oxides (Grannas et al, 2007b) and mercury (Durnford and Dastoor, 2011) are partially re-emitted to the atmosphere due to chemical processes in the snow. For other species such as persistent organic pollutants, the transfer to the soil or to the oceans may exceed the initial deposition, as those species may be formed by postdepositional processes in surface snow (Grannas et al, 2013). To fully assess the atmosphere-to-soil or -ocean fluxes from a global perspective, the post-depositional fate of pollutants and impact of chemistry in snow need to be understood.…”

Section: Importance Of Air-snow Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in snow structure and properties critically affect both physical processes and chemical reactivity (Domine et al, 2008). Better understanding underlying processes and their relation to the Earth system is of importance to environmental chemistry, atmospheric science, and cryospheric science, as detailed in recent reviews on the uptake of acidic trace gases to ice (Abbatt, 2003;Huthwelker et al, 2006), snow chemistry (Grannas et al, 2007b), halogen chemistry (Simpson et al, 2007;Abbatt et al, 2012), fate of organics (McNeill et al, 2012;Grannas et al, 2013), and mercury in snow (Steffen et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of air–ice chemical and physical interactions (AICI): liquids, quasi-liquids, and solids in snow

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Snow in the environment acts as a host to rich chemistry and provides a matrix for physical exchange of contaminants within the ecosystem. The goal of this review is to summarise the current state of knowledge of physical processes and chemical reactivity in surface snow with relevance to polar regions. It focuses on a description of impurities in distinct compartments present in surface snow, such as snow crystals, grain boundaries, crystal surfaces, and liquid parts. It emphasises the microscopic description of the ice surface and its link with the environment. Distinct differences between the disordered air–ice interface, often termed quasi-liquid layer, and a liquid phase are highlighted. The reactivity in these different compartments of surface snow is discussed using many experimental studies, simulations, and selected snow models from the molecular to the macro-scale. Although new experimental techniques have extended our knowledge of the surface properties of ice and their impact on some single reactions and processes, others occurring on, at or within snow grains remain unquantified. The presence of liquid or liquid-like compartments either due to the formation of brine or disorder at surfaces of snow crystals below the freezing point may strongly modify reaction rates. Therefore, future experiments should include a detailed characterisation of the surface properties of the ice matrices. A further point that remains largely unresolved is the distribution of impurities between the different domains of the condensed phase inside the snowpack, i.e. in the bulk solid, in liquid at the surface or trapped in confined pockets within or between grains, or at the surface. While surface-sensitive laboratory techniques may in the future help to resolve this point for equilibrium conditions, additional uncertainty for the environmental snowpack may be caused by the highly dynamic nature of the snowpack due to the fast metamorphism occurring under certain environmental conditions. Due to these gaps in knowledge the first snow chemistry models have attempted to reproduce certain processes like the long-term incorporation of volatile compounds in snow and firn or the release of reactive species from the snowpack. Although so far none of the models offers a coupled approach of physical and chemical processes or a detailed representation of the different compartments, they have successfully been used to reproduce some field experiments. A fully coupled snow chemistry and physics model remains to be developed.

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The abandoned ice sheet base at Camp Century, Greenland, in a warming climate

Colgan

Machguth

MacFerrin

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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In 1959 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Camp Century beneath the surface of the northwestern Greenland Ice Sheet. There they studied the feasibility of deploying ballistic missiles within the ice sheet. The base and its wastes were abandoned with minimal decommissioning in 1967, under the assumption they would be preserved for eternity by perpetually accumulating snowfall. Here we show that a transition in ice sheet surface mass balance at Camp Century from net accumulation to net ablation is plausible within the next 75 years, under a business‐as‐usual anthropogenic emissions scenario (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5). Net ablation would guarantee the eventual remobilization of physical, chemical, biological, and radiological wastes abandoned at the site. While Camp Century and four other contemporaneous ice sheet bases were legally established under a Danish‐U.S. treaty, the potential remobilization of their abandoned wastes, previously regarded as sequestered, represents an entirely new pathway of political dispute resulting from climate change.

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The role of the global cryosphere in the fate of organic contaminants

Cited by 132 publications

References 240 publications

Reviews and syntheses: Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic aquatic ecosystems

Reviews and syntheses: Effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic aquatic ecosystems

A review of air–ice chemical and physical interactions (AICI): liquids, quasi-liquids, and solids in snow

The abandoned ice sheet base at Camp Century, Greenland, in a warming climate

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