A219-0007
Chemical composition of recent snow in Southwestern Greenland Ice Sheet

Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Poster
Isatis M. Cintron-Rodriguez1, Peter Kregsammer2, Gerelmaa Gunchin2, Hinrich Grothe3, Sasha Z Leidman4 and Asa K Rennermalm5, (1)Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ, United States, (2)Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, (3)Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Materials Chemistry, Vienna, Austria, (4)University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States, (5)Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
Abstract:
Atmospheric transport leads to deposition of impurities in snow, which have the capacity of enhancing the absorption of solar radiation and accelerating surface melt. Major ions and trace elements serve as important proxies for reconstructing past atmospheric conditions. These can also be used as tracers for detailed emission sources. However, direct observations of snow properties and chemical composition on the Greenland ice sheet are scarce. To investigate large-scale trace element and light-absorbing particles (LAP) deposition in Southwest Greenland Ice Sheet, vertical snow profiles were collected at five locations in the accumulation zone in May of 2017. These samples were measured offline for LAP, and the abundance of 12 trace elements (Na, P, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, As, Rb). LAP, such as black carbon and dust, were analyzed through Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) coupled with CETAC Marin-5 nebulizer and gravimetry, respectively. Snow samples show little spatial variability for the sampling area despite being up to 100 km apart. Enrichment-factor calculations show that snow elemental composition ratios are above crustal ratios, suggesting possible long-range transport and anthropogenic sources.
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