A review of black carbon in snow and ice and its impact on the cryosphere

Kang, Shichang; Zhang, Yulan; Qian, Yun; Wang, Hailong

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103346

Cited by 198 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…7). In particular, BC concentrations in the aged snow/granular ice were usually much higher (1−2 orders of magnitude) than that in fresh snow/snowpit/ice cores (Kang et al, 2020 in snow cover over the TP were 202−17468 ng g -1 and 491−13880 ng g -1 , respectively. The values of BC and WIOC in snow cover across Northern Xinjiang varied from 32 to 8841 ng g -1 , and 77 to 8568 ng g -1 , respectively.…”

Section: Bc and Wioc From Glaciers And Snow Covermentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In particular, studies on atmospheric carbonaceous components (e.g., black carbon, BC; organic carbon, OC) have gained wide attention, due to the fact that they can directly (or indirectly) absorb or scatter solar radiation at the surface, alternately interact with the nucleation of clouds, and influence the precipitation efficiency (Bond et al, 2013;IPCC, 2013;Ji et al, 2016;Ramanathan et al, 2005;Ramanathan and Carmichael, 2008;Ramachandran et al, 2020;Yang et al, 2020). These carbonaceous aerosols (CAs) have influenced the climate and environmental changes on Earth (Kang et al, 2020;Li et al, 2017a;Xu et al, 2012;Chen et al, 2019b;Zhang et al, 2017a;Zhang et al, 2012). The TP has recently been polluted by anthropogenic emissions mainly from long range transport, especially during the pre-monsoon when the aerosols accumulated and combined with westerlies and local mountain valley breeze (Cong et al, 2015;Kang et al, 2019;Painicker et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historical BC records from the Tibetan glacier ice cores revealed the impact of anthropogenic emissions, with BC concentrations increased by 2−3 times since the 1950s (Kaspari et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2015. Light absorbing BC and OC (including water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and water insoluble organic carbon (WIOC)) deposited on the glacier and snow cover induced surface darkening and enhanced melting (Flanner et al, 2007;Kang et al, 2020;Lau and Kim, 2018;Santra et al, 2019;Xu et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2020b). Estimates indicated that BC in snow resulted in accelerated glacier melt by approximately 15−20% in the southeast/central TP and Central Asia (Li et al, 2020;Zhang et al, , 2020b reduced snow cover duration by 3−4 days across the TP and 3−6 days in Northern Xinjiang (Zhang et al, 2018a;Zhong et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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APCC Data Report I: Black carbon and organic carbon dataset from atmosphere, glaciers, snow cover, precipitation, and lake sediment cores over the Third Pole

Kang

Zhang

Chen

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its surroundings, known as the Third Pole, play an important role in the regional and global climate and hydrological cycle. Carbonaceous aerosols (CAs), including black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), can directly/indirectly absorb and scatter solar radiation, and change the energy balance on Earth. CAs, along with other atmospheric pollutants (e.g., mercury), can frequently be transported over long distances into the inland TP. During the last decade, a coordinated monitoring network and research program on Atmospheric Pollution and Cryospheric Change (APCC) has been gradually setup and continuously operated within the Third Pole regions to investigate the linkage between atmospheric pollutants and cryospheric change. This paper presents a systematic dataset of BC, OC, water soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and water insoluble organic carbon (WIOC) from aerosols (19 stations), glaciers (17 glaciers, including samples from surface snow/ice, snowpit, and two ice cores), snow cover (2 stations continuous observed, and 138 sites surveyed), precipitation (6 stations), and lake sediment cores (7 lakes) collected across the TP and its surroundings, as the first dataset released from this APCC program. These data were created based on online (in-situ) and laboratory measurements. High-resolution (daily scale) atmospheric equivalent BC (eBC) concentrations were obtained by using an aethalometer (AE-33) in the Mt. Everest (Qomolangma) region, which can provide a new insight into the mechanism of BC transportation over the Himalayas. Spatial distributions of BC, OC, WSOC and WIOC from aerosols, glaciers, snow cover, and precipitation indicated different features among the different regions of the TP, which were mostly influenced by emission sources, transport, and deposition processes. Several hundred years of refractory BC (rBC) records from ice cores and BC from lake sediment cores revealed the strength of human activities since the industrial revolution. BC isotopes from glaciers and aerosols identified the relative contributions of biomass and fossil fuel combustion to BC deposition on the Himalayas and TP. Mass absorption cross section of BC and WSOC from aerosol, glaciers, snow cover, and precipitation samples were also provided. This updated dataset is released to the scientific communities focusing on atmospheric science, cryospheric science, hydrology, climatology and environmental science. The related datasets are presented in the form of excel files. These files are available to download from the State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences at Lanzhou (https://doi.org/10.12072/ncdc.NIEER.db0114.2021, Kang and Zhang, 2021). In the future, datasets of mercury, heavy metals, and POPs will be reported.

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Section: Bc and Wioc From Glaciers And Snow Covermentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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APCC Data Report I: Black carbon and organic carbon dataset from atmosphere, glaciers, snow cover, precipitation, and lake sediment cores over the Third Pole

Kang

Zhang

Chen

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…These South Asia-sourced pollutants can be transported into the TP region via the larger-scale atmospheric circulation and/or south-north-trending valley wind system (Cong et al, 2015a;Chen et al, 2018;Cong et al, 2015b;Xia et al, 2011). As a product of incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and biomass, BC deposited in the TP region has attracted much attention, since it can accelerate glacier melting, although the magnitude of this effect is uncertain (Kang et al, 2020 and references therein). Li et al (2016) indicated that BC aerosols originating from Indo-Gangetic Plain can be transported to the Himalayas and even further to the southern TP.…”

Section: Ionic Characteristics and Potential Sulfate Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comment on acp-2020-1279

2021

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As an important atmosphere constituent, sulfate aerosols exert profound impacts on climate, ecological environment, and human health. The Tibetan Plateau (TP), identified as the 'Third Pole', contains the largest land ice masses outside the poles and has attracted wide attention on its environment and climatic change. However, the mechanisms of sulfate formation in this specific region remain poorly characterized. Oxygen-17 anomaly (D 17 O) has been used as a probe to constrain the relative importance of different pathways leading to sulfate formation. Here, we report the D 17 O values in atmospheric sulfate collected at a remote site in the Mt. Everest region to decipher the possible formation mechanisms of sulfate in such a pristine environment. Throughout the sampling campaign (April-September 2018), the D 17 O in non-dust sulfate show an average of 1.7 ± 0.5‰ which is higher than most existing data in modern atmospheric sulfate. The seasonality of D 17 O in non-dust sulfate exhibits high values in the pre-monsoon and low values in the monsoon, opposite to the seasonality in D 17 O for both sulfate and nitrate (i.e., minima in warm season and maxima in cold season) observed from diverse geographic sites. This high D 17 O in non-dust sulfate found in this region clearly indicates the important role of the S(IV) + O3 pathway in atmospheric sulfate formation promoted by high cloud water pH condition. Overall, our study provides an observational constraint on atmospheric acidity in altering sulfate formation pathways particularly in dust-rich environments, and such identification of key processes provides an important basis for a better understanding of the sulfur cycle in the TP.

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“…Hypohalous acids (HOCl and HOBr) were proposed to be potentially important oxidants only in the marine boundary layer (Vogt et al, 1996;Chen et al, 2016). Sulfate produced in the aqueous phase does not lead to nucleation of new particles but can increase particle growth rates since it forms on existing particles (Kaufman and Tanre, 1994). In addition, different aqueous pathways would be also responsible for different aerosol radiative forcing effects (Harris et al, 2013), and thus a detailed understanding of partitioning between the major oxidation pathways is critical for accurate estimation of the magnitude and spatial distribution of sulfate aerosol cooling in assessments of current and future climate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic constraints on atmospheric sulfate formation pathways in the Mt. Everest region, southern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2021

Self Cite

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Abstract. As an important atmosphere constituent, sulfate aerosols exert profound impacts on climate, the ecological environment, and human health. The Tibetan Plateau (TP), identified as the “Third Pole”, contains the largest land ice masses outside the poles and has attracted widespread attention for its environment and climatic change. However, the mechanisms of sulfate formation in this specific region still remain poorly characterized. An oxygen-17 anomaly (Δ17O) has been used as a probe to constrain the relative importance of different pathways leading to sulfate formation. Here, we report the Δ17O values in atmospheric sulfate collected at a remote site in the Mt. Everest region to decipher the possible formation mechanisms of sulfate in such a pristine environment. Throughout the sampling campaign (April–September 2018), the Δ17O in non-dust sulfate show an average of 1.7 ‰±0.5 ‰, which is higher than most existing data on modern atmospheric sulfate. The seasonality of Δ17O in non-dust sulfate exhibits high values in the pre-monsoon and low values in the monsoon, opposite to the seasonality in Δ17O for both sulfate and nitrate (i.e., minima in the warm season and maxima in the cold season) observed from diverse geographic sites. This high Δ17O in non-dust sulfate found in this region clearly indicates the important role of the S(IV)+O3 pathway in atmospheric sulfate formation promoted by conditions of high cloud water pH. Overall, our study provides an observational constraint on atmospheric acidity in altering sulfate formation pathways, particularly in dust-rich environments, and such identification of key processes provides an important basis for a better understanding of the sulfur cycle in the TP.

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A review of black carbon in snow and ice and its impact on the cryosphere

Cited by 198 publications

References 121 publications

APCC Data Report I: Black carbon and organic carbon dataset from atmosphere, glaciers, snow cover, precipitation, and lake sediment cores over the Third Pole

APCC Data Report I: Black carbon and organic carbon dataset from atmosphere, glaciers, snow cover, precipitation, and lake sediment cores over the Third Pole

Comment on acp-2020-1279

Isotopic constraints on atmospheric sulfate formation pathways in the Mt. Everest region, southern Tibetan Plateau

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