Continuous flow analysis methods for sodium, magnesium and calcium detection in the Skytrain ice core

Abstract

Dissolved and particulate sodium, magnesium and calcium are analyzed in ice cores to determine past changes in sea ice extent, terrestrial dust variability and atmospheric aerosol transport efficiency. They are also used to date ice cores if annual layers are visible. Multiple methods have been developed to analyze these important compounds in ice cores. Continuous flow analysis (CFA) is implemented with instruments that sample the meltstream continuously. In this study, CFA with ICP-MS (inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry) and fast ion chromatography (FIC) methods are compared for analysis of sodium and magnesium. ICP-MS, FIC and fluorescence methods are compared for analysis of calcium. Respective analysis of a 10 m section of the Antarctic WACSWAIN Skytrain Ice Rise ice core shows that all of the methods result in similar levels of the compounds. The ICP-MS method is the most suitable for analysis of the Skytrain ice core due to its superior precision (relative standard deviation: 1.6% for Na, 1.3% for Mg and 1.2% for Ca) and sampling frequency compared to the FIC method. The fluorescence detection method may be preferred for calcium analysis due to its higher depth resolution (1.4 cm) relative to the ICP-MS and FIC methods (~4 cm).

Regional variability of diatoms in ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula and Ellsworth Land, Antarctica

“…A second ice core strip (3.3 cm ×3.3 cm) was cut from SHIC, SKBL, and JUR and then melted using a continuousflow analysis (CFA) system (Röthlisberger et al, 2000;Grieman et al, 2021) in the ice chemistry lab at the British Antarctic Survey, UK, to analyse the H 2 O 2 concentration using enzymatic fluorometry examined by a FIAlab photomultiplier-FL detector through a 3 mm Suprasil flow cell.…”

Ice Core Chronologies from the Antarctic Peninsula: The Palmer, Jurassic, and Rendezvous Age-Scales

“…A suite of chemical species was measured using Continuous Flow Analysis (CFA) in the ice core labs at BAS (Cambridge, UK). The bespoke CFA system comprises Fast Ion Chromatography (FIC), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), fluorescence, and laser spectroscopy instrumentation [22]. All instruments are engineered for operation in continuous mode, where ice core sections are melted and analysed from a continuous sample stream [23].…”

An Age Scale for the First Shallow (Sub-)Antarctic Ice Core from Young Island, Northwest Ross Sea

“…At BAS, continuous flow analysis [41] was used to acquire the liquid hydrogen peroxide concentration based on enzymatic fluorometry, first applied by Lazrus et al [42], in December 2017. The contamination risk for both CFA sections was considered negligible, because they lay centrally, i.e., ≥0.7 cm inside the ice core rims (Figure 2), and the CFA melt head was set up for decontamination [43].…”