scholarly journals Experimental observation of transient δ<sup>18</sup>O interaction between snow and advective airflow under various temperature gradient conditions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pirmin P. Ebner ◽  
Hans Christian Steen-Larsen ◽  
Barbara Stenni ◽  
Martin Schneebeli ◽  
Aldo Steinfeld
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Equilibrium Processes ◽  
Stable Isotopes Of Water ◽  
Past Climate Variability

Abstract. Stable water isotopes (δ18O) obtained from snow and ice samples of polar regions are used to reconstruct past climate variability, but heat and mass transport processes can affect the isotopic composition. Here we present an experimental study on the effect on the snow isotopic composition by airflow through a snow pack in controlled laboratory conditions. The influence of isothermal and controlled temperature gradient conditions on the δ18O content in the snow and interstitial water vapor is elucidated. The observed disequilibrium between snow and vapor isotopes led to exchange of isotopes between snow and vapor under non-equilibrium processes, significantly changing the δ18O content of the snow. The type of metamorphism of the snow had a significant influence on this process. These findings are pertinent to the interpretation of the records of stable isotopes of water from ice cores. These laboratory measurements suggest that a highly resolved history is relevant for the interpretation of the snow isotopic composition in the field.

scholarly journals Experimental observation of transient <i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O interaction between snow and advective airflow under various temperature gradient conditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1733-1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pirmin Philipp Ebner ◽  
Hans Christian Steen-Larsen ◽  
Barbara Stenni ◽  
Martin Schneebeli ◽  
Aldo Steinfeld
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Climate History ◽  
Stable Isotopes Of Water ◽  
Past Climate Variability

Abstract. Stable water isotopes (δ18O) obtained from snow and ice samples of polar regions are used to reconstruct past climate variability, but heat and mass transport processes can affect the isotopic composition. Here we present an experimental study on the effect of airflow on the snow isotopic composition through a snow pack in controlled laboratory conditions. The influence of isothermal and controlled temperature gradient conditions on the δ18O content in the snow and interstitial water vapour is elucidated. The observed disequilibrium between snow and vapour isotopes led to the exchange of isotopes between snow and vapour under non-equilibrium processes, significantly changing the δ18O content of the snow. The type of metamorphism of the snow had a significant influence on this process. These findings are pertinent to the interpretation of the records of stable isotopes of water from ice cores. These laboratory measurements suggest that a highly resolved climate history is relevant for the interpretation of the snow isotopic composition in the field.

scholarly journals Comparing past accumulation rate reconstructions in East Antarctic ice cores using <sup>10</sup>Be, water isotopes and CMIP5-PMIP3 models

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cauquoin ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
G. M. Raisbeck ◽  
J. Jouzel ◽  
L. Bazin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Good Agreement

Abstract. Ice cores are exceptional archives which allow us to reconstruct a wealth of climatic parameters as well as past atmospheric composition over the last 800 kyr in Antarctica. Inferring the variations in past accumulation rate in polar regions is essential both for documenting past climate and for ice core chronology. On the East Antarctic Plateau, the accumulation rate is so small that annual layers cannot be identified and accumulation rate is mainly deduced from the water isotopic composition assuming constant temporal relationships between temperature, water isotopic composition and accumulation rate. Such an assumption leads to large uncertainties on the reconstructed past accumulation rate. Here, we use high-resolution beryllium-10 (10Be) as an alternative tool for inferring past accumulation rate for the EPICA Dome C ice core, in East Antarctica. We present a high-resolution 10Be record covering a full climatic cycle over the period 269 to 355 ka from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 to 10, including a period warmer than pre-industrial (MIS 9.3 optimum). After correcting 10Be for the estimated effect of the palaeomagnetic field, we deduce that the 10Be reconstruction is in reasonably good agreement with EDC3 values for the full cycle except for the period warmer than present. For the latter, the accumulation is up to 13% larger (4.46 cm ie yr−1 instead of 3.95). This result is in agreement with the studies suggesting an underestimation of the deuterium-based accumulation for the optimum of the Holocene (Parrenin et al. 2007a). Using the relationship between accumulation rate and surface temperature from the saturation vapour relationship, the 10Be-based accumulation rate reconstruction suggests that the temperature increase between the MIS 9.3 optimum and present day may be 2.4 K warmer than estimated by the water isotopes reconstruction. We compare these reconstructions to the available model results from CMIP5-PMIP3 for a glacial and an interglacial state, i.e. for the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial climates. While 3 out of 7 models show relatively good agreement with the reconstructions of the accumulation–temperature relationships based on 10Be and water isotopes, the other models either underestimate or overestimate it, resulting in a range of model results much larger than the range of the reconstructions. Indeed, the models can encounter some difficulties in simulating precipitation changes linked with temperature or water isotope content on the East Antarctic Plateau during glacial–interglacial transition and need to be improved in the future.

scholarly journals Using beryllium-10 to test the validity of past accumulation rate reconstruction from water isotope records in East Antarctic ice cores

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 3421-3447
Author(s):  
A. Cauquoin ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
G. M. Raisbeck ◽  
J. Jouzel ◽  
L. Bazin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Temperature Reconstruction ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Water Distillation

Abstract. Ice cores are exceptional archives which allow us to reconstruct a wealth of climatic parameters as well as past atmospheric composition over the last 800 ka in Antarctica. Inferring the variations of past accumulation rate in polar regions is essential both for documenting past climate and for ice core chronology. On the East Antarctic plateau, the accumulation rate is so small that annual layers cannot be identified and accumulation rate is mainly deduced from the water isotopic composition assuming constant temporal relationships between temperature, water isotopic composition and accumulation rate. Such assumption leads to large uncertainties on the reconstructed past accumulation rate. Here, we use high resolution beryllium-10 (10Be) as an alternative tool for inferring past accumulation rate for the EPICA Dome C ice core, in East Antarctica. We present a high resolution 10Be record covering a full climatic cycle over the period 269 to 355 kyr BP from MIS 9 to MIS 10 (Marine Isotope Stages). After correcting 10Be for the estimated effect of the paleomagnetic field, we deduce that the classical estimation of accumulation rate variations from records of water isotopes agrees, with a possible underestimation of 16%, with the uncertainty on the temperature reconstruction from water isotopes in Antarctic ice cores. This is within their uncertainty of −10 to +30%. Finally, we show that the relationship between temperature and accumulation rate is comparable when using ice core data and results from several AGCM simulations run on glacial–interglacial conditions despite a larger spread in model outputs. These results indicate that the thermodynamic law linking moisture content in the air and temperature, as implemented in the different models, leads to realistic results even in polar regions, at the end of the water distillation trajectory.

scholarly journals Use of stable water isotopes to identify stages of the pingo ice core formation

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju. N. Chizhova ◽  
Yu. K. Vasil’chuk
Keyword(s):  
Closed System ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Ice Formation ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Additional Tool ◽  
Hydrological Conditions ◽  
Water Saturated ◽  
Average Annual Precipitation

Te isotopic characteristics of the pingo ice cores are considered. Te distribution of δ18O and δ2H values, dexc, δ18O–δ2H and δ2H–d exc relationships, and the simulation of the distribution of δ18O and δ2H values during the ice formation in a closed system, allowed drawing conclusion about the hydrological conditions and stages of the ice core growth. All pingos (Pestsovoye, Weather, Pingo-20) were formed in draining lake basins in the course of freezing of closed taliks. It is established that the water, which served as a source for the formation of the ice core, was subjected to evaporation still before the ice formation. According to our estimates, the water from which the ice of the Pestsovoye pingo was formed was heavier in values of δ18O and δ2H by 3.9 and 29.7‰, respectively, than the current average annual precipitation in the region. Similarly, for the ice of the core of the Pingo Weather it is 2.9 and 14.5‰, and 5.1 and 27.7‰ for the Pingo-20, respectively. In the ice cores of all considered pingos there is an ice formed in a closed system: in Pingo-20 it is a pure injection ice, while in the Pestsovoye and the Weser ones – the injected-segregated ice. Te frost mounds Pestsovoe and Weser grew under changing hydrological conditions: one part of the ice was formed when there was a free flow of water to the freezing front (open system); the other one – when the water-saturated lenses of the closed talik were frozen (closed system). Te isotopic composition of ice being formed under conditions of a closed system reflects isotopic depletion during freezing and ice formation according to the Rayleigh model. It is expressed in a successive decrease in the values of δ18O and δ2H from the frst portions of ice to the last ones as the freezing continued. Te contrast values of δ18O and δ2H in different parts of the ice being formed in the closed system may be used as an additional tool to identify direction of freezing. In a closed system, the last portions of ice have the greater contrast of the isotope values as compared to the frst portions.

A pulse of mercury and major ions in snowmelt runoff from a small Arctic Alaska watershed

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Douglas ◽  
Matthew Sturm ◽  
Joel Blum ◽  
Christopher Polashenski ◽  
Svetlana Stuefer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Ions ◽  
Atmospheric Mercury ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Snowmelt Runoff ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Ephemeral Stream ◽  
Arctic Alaska ◽  
Open Sea ◽  
Ice Leads

Atmospheric mercury (Hg) is deposited to Polar Regions during springtime atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) that require halogens and snow or ice surfaces. The fate of this Hg during and following snowmelt is largely unknown. We measured Hg, major ions, and stable water isotopes from the snowpack through the entire spring melt runoff period for two years. Our small (2.5 ha) watershed is near Barrow (now Utqiaġvik), Alaska. We measured discharge, made 10 000 snow depths, and collected over 100 samples of snow and meltwater for chemical analysis in 2008 and 2009 from the watershed snowpack and ephemeral stream channel. Our results suggest AMDE Hg complexed with Cl⁻ or Br⁻ may be less likely to be photochemically reduced and re-emitted to the atmosphere prior to snowmelt, and we estimate that roughly 25% of the Hg in snowmelt is attributable to AMDEs. Projected Arctic warming, with more open sea ice leads providing halogen sources that promote AMDEs, may provide enhanced Hg deposition, reduced Hg emission and, ultimately, an increase in snowpack and snowmelt runoff Hg concentrations.

scholarly journals O, H and C isotopic systematics of Icelandic groundwater

2019 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 07031
Author(s):  
Arny E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir ◽  
Andri Stefánsson ◽  
Jan Heinemeier
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Carbon Isotopes ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Lower Crust ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Range Of Values

Stable water isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen have been studied in Icelandic natural waters since 1960 for hydrological and geothermal research. All the waters are of meteoric and seawater origin. The measured range in δD and δ18O is large -131 to +3.3‰ and -20.8 to +2.3‰ respectively. Some of the waters are more depleted than any present-day precipitation suggesting a pre-Holocene component in the groundwater. Carbon isotopes of streams, rivers, soil and groundwater have been studied since 1990 in order to evaluate the carbon sources and reactions that possibly influence the carbon systematics of the water. Results show large range of values, for δ13CDIC -27.4 to +4.5‰ and for 14CDIC +0.6 to +118 pMC. Apart from atmospheric, organic and rock leaching, input of gas at depth with similar isotopic composition as the pre-erupted melt of the upper mantle and lower crust beneath Iceland have been identified as sources for carbon in the deeper groundwater.

scholarly journals Improved methodologies for continuous-flow analysis of stable water isotopes in ice cores

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 617-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler R. Jones ◽  
James W. C. White ◽  
Eric J. Steig ◽  
Bruce H. Vaughn ◽  
Valerie Morris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Flow ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Absorption Spectrometry ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Continuous Flow Analysis

Abstract. Water isotopes in ice cores are used as a climate proxy for local temperature and regional atmospheric circulation as well as evaporative conditions in moisture source regions. Traditional measurements of water isotopes have been achieved using magnetic sector isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). However, a number of recent studies have shown that laser absorption spectrometry (LAS) performs as well or better than IRMS. The new LAS technology has been combined with continuous-flow analysis (CFA) to improve data density and sample throughput in numerous prior ice coring projects. Here, we present a comparable semi-automated LAS-CFA system for measuring high-resolution water isotopes of ice cores. We outline new methods for partitioning both system precision and mixing length into liquid and vapor components – useful measures for defining and improving the overall performance of the system. Critically, these methods take into account the uncertainty of depth registration that is not present in IRMS nor fully accounted for in other CFA studies. These analyses are achieved using samples from a South Pole firn core, a Greenland ice core, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core. The measurement system utilizes a 16-position carousel contained in a freezer to consecutively deliver  ∼  1 m  ×  1.3 cm2 ice sticks to a temperature-controlled melt head, where the ice is converted to a continuous liquid stream and eventually vaporized using a concentric nebulizer for isotopic analysis. An integrated delivery system for water isotope standards is used for calibration to the Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW) scale, and depth registration is achieved using a precise overhead laser distance device with an uncertainty of ±0.2  mm. As an added check on the system, we perform inter-lab LAS comparisons using WAIS Divide ice samples, a corroboratory step not taken in prior CFA studies. The overall results are important for substantiating data obtained from LAS-CFA systems, including optimizing liquid and vapor mixing lengths, determining melt rates for ice cores with different accumulation and thinning histories, and removing system-wide mixing effects that are convolved with the natural diffusional signal that results primarily from water molecule diffusion in the firn column.

Spatial variability of surface snow isotopic composition on the East Antarctic Plateau and implications for climate reconstructions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Hörhold ◽  
Alexander Weinhart ◽  
Sepp Kipfstuhl ◽  
Johannes Freitag ◽  
Georgia Micha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Mean Temperature ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Surface Snow ◽  
Relationship Of

&lt;p&gt;The reconstruction of past temperatures based on ice core records relies on the quantitative but empirical relationship of stable water isotopes and annual mean temperature. However, its relation varies through space and time. On the East Antarctic Plateau, temperature reconstructions from ice cores are poorly constrained or even fail on decadal and smaller time scales. The observed discrepancy between annual mean temperature and isotopic composition partly relies on surface processes altering the signal after deposition but also, to a great deal, on spatially coherent processes prior to or during deposition. However, spatial coverage over larger areas on the East Antarctic Plateau is challenging. We here present in-situ measurements of the isotopic composition of surface snow with unprecedented statistical quality and coverage. 1m surface snow profiles were collected during an overland traverse between Kohnen station and Plateau Station, covering a 1200km long transect. We explore regional differences of the temperature-isotope relationship and discuss possible mechanisms affecting the isotopic composition in areas with accumulation rates lower than 60mmWEa^-1.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals New water fractions and transit time distributions at Plynlimon, Wales, estimated from stable water isotopes in precipitation and streamflow

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia L. A. Knapp ◽  
Colin Neal ◽  
Alessandro Schlumpf ◽  
Margaret Neal ◽  
James W. Kirchner
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Transit Time ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Hydrograph Separation ◽  
Stable Water Isotopes ◽  
Isotope Data ◽  
Water Fractions

Abstract. Long-term, high-frequency time series of passive tracers in precipitation and streamflow are essential for quantifying catchment transport and storage processes, but few such data sets are publicly available. Here we describe, present, and make available to the public two extensive data sets of stable water isotopes in streamflow and precipitation at the Plynlimon experimental catchments in mid-Wales. Stable isotope data are available at 7-hourly intervals for 17 months, and at weekly intervals for 4.25 years. Precipitation isotope values were highly variable in both data sets, and the high temporal resolution of the 7-hourly streamwater samples revealed rich isotopic dynamics that were not captured by the weekly sampling. We used ensemble hydrograph separation to calculate new water fractions and transit time distributions from both data sets. Transit time distributions estimated by ensemble hydrograph separation were broadly consistent with those estimated by spectral fitting methods, suggesting that they can reliably quantify the contributions of recent precipitation to streamflow. We found that on average, roughly 3 % of streamwater was made up of precipitation that fell within the previous 7 hours, and 13–15 % of streamwater was made up of precipitation that fell within the previous week. The contributions of recent precipitation to streamflow were highest during large events, as illustrated by comparing new water fractions for different discharges and precipitation rates. This dependence of new water fractions on water fluxes was also reflected in their seasonal variations, with lower new water fractions and more damped catchment transit time distributions in spring and summer compared to fall and winter. We also compared new water fractions obtained from stable water isotopes against those obtained from concentrations of chloride, a solute frequently used as a passive tracer of catchment transport processes. After filtering the chloride data for dry deposition effects, we found broadly similar new water fractions using chloride and stable water isotopes, indicating that these different tracers may yield similar inferences about catchment storage and transport, if potentially confounding factors are eliminated. These stable isotope time series comprise some of the longest and most detailed publicly available catchment isotope data sets. They complement extensive solute data sets that are already publicly available for Plynlimon, enabling a wide range of future analyses of catchment behavior.

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