Stable isotopes in environmental investigations

Mašalaitė, Agnė; Garbaras, Andrius; Remeikis, Vidmantas

doi:10.3952/physics.v52i3.2478

Cited by 25 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Our data were similar to δ 13 C of EC in PM previously reported for Alert (−27.9 ± 0.8‰, 5 March 2014 to 18 March 2015) (Winiger et al, 2019). Additionally, these data fall within the range of reported δ 13 C values of particles produced by fossil fuel combustion (−24‰ to −28‰) (Andersson et al, 2015;Mašalaitė et al, 2012;Pugliese et al, 2017;Widory, 2006) and overlaps with δ 13 C values found in biomass burning aerosols (−21‰ to −29‰) (Agnihotri et al, 2011;Garbaras et al, 2015;Mouteva et al, 2015;Sang et al, 2012).…”

Section: Isotopes Of Ec In Pmsupporting

confidence: 90%

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Seasonal Cycle of Isotope‐Based Source Apportionment of Elemental Carbon in Airborne Particulate Matter and Snow at Alert, Canada

et al. 2020

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Elemental carbon (EC) is a major light-absorbing component of atmospheric aerosol particles. Here, we report the seasonal variation in EC concentrations and sources in airborne particulate matter (PM) and snow at Alert, Canada, from March 2014 to June 2015. We isolated the EC fraction with the EnCan-Total-900 (ECT9) protocol and quantified its stable carbon isotope composition (δ 13 C) and radiocarbon content (Δ 14 C) to apportion EC into contributions from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning (wildfires and biofuel combustion). Ten-day backward trajectories show EC aerosols reaching Alert by traveling over the Arctic Ocean from the Russian Arctic during winter and from North America (>40°N) during summer. EC concentrations range from 1.8-135.3 ng C m −3 air (1.9-41.2% of total carbon [TC], n = 48), with lowest values in summer (1.8-44.5 ng C m −3 air, n = 9). EC in PM (Δ 14 C =-532 ± 114‰ [ave. ± SD, n = 20]) and snow (−257 ± 131‰, n = 7) was depleted in 14 C relative to current ambient CO 2 year-round. EC in PM mainly originated from liquid and solid fossil fuels from fall to spring (47-70% fossil), but had greater contributions from biomass burning in summer (48-80% modern carbon). EC in snow was mostly from biomass burning (53-88%). Our data show that biomass burning EC is preferentially incorporated into snow because of scavenging processes within the Arctic atmosphere or long-range transport in storm systems. This work provides a comprehensive view of EC particles captured in the High Arctic through wet and dry deposition and demonstrates that surface stations monitoring EC in PM might underestimate biomass burning and transport. Plain Language Summary Elemental carbon (EC) aerosols are produced during combustion processes and impact Arctic climate because they absorb light, warm the atmosphere, and accelerate snow and ice melt. Here, we measured the concentration and isotopic composition of EC suspended in the atmosphere and in snow at Alert, Canada, between March 2014 and May 2015. We found that concentrations were lowest during the summer and increased throughout the winter and early spring. This pattern is typical, because EC is removed from the atmosphere by precipitation, which happens more frequently during summer. Our isotope data and meteorological analyses revealed that fossil fuel burning in the Russian Arctic was an important source of EC to Alert from September to May, while forest fires in the North American boreal region were major sources of EC during the summer. We also found that snow contained a greater proportion of EC derived from biomass burning than the suspended aerosols. Snow might be preferentially capturing biomass burning EC from the local atmosphere or be transporting them to the Arctic from lower latitudes. Since EC surface observing networks routinely measure EC in PM but not snow, the impact of biomass burning EC sources on Arctic climate might be underestimated.

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Section: Isotopes Of Ec In Pmsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…For nongaseous sources, we estimate a δ 13 C of −27 ± 4‰. These include the combustion of coal with a δ 13 C of −23.4 ± 1.3‰ and of liquid fuels (gasoline, diesel, and kerosene) with estimated ranges from −23.8‰ to −31.3‰ (Andersson et al, 2015; Mašalaitė et al, 2012; Pugliese et al, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Cycle of Isotope‐Based Source Apportionment of Elemental Carbon in Airborne Particulate Matter and Snow at Alert, Canada

et al. 2020

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“…The OC isotope ratio of ambient and diesel replicates (following the same procedure as described for NIST standard), yielded almost same values with precision again better than 1.0‰ for both types of samples (Table S1). The derived ratio values of OC for ambient and diesel exhaust aerosols (10 different samples) produced comparable results of δ 13 C ratio (-27.9 to -22.7 and -26.2 to -22.9‰, respectively) with other studies (Widory, 2006;Cao et al, 2011;Pavuluri et al, 2011;Fu et al, 2012;Kawashima and Haneishi, 2012;Mašalaitė et al, 2012, Shakya et al, 2012Mkoma et al, 2013;Kundu and Kawamura, 2014). Table 1 shows the measured isotopic values for aerosols of different origin.…”

Section: Carbon Isotopic Ratio Measurementsupporting

confidence: 62%

A Novel Tandem of Thermal Desorption Carbon Analyzer and Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy for Aerosol Stable Carbon Isotope Ratio Measurement

Kaul

Ning

Westerdahl

et al. 2016

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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A novel approach for measurement of stable carbon isotopic ratio of atmospheric aerosols was developed by tandem operation of two instruments: a Sunset Organic Carbon-Elemental Carbon (OC-EC) analyzer and an online Carbon Dioxide Stable Isotope Analyzer (LGR, CCIA-36d). Sensitivity, accuracy and measurement uncertainty of the CCIA was comprehensively investigated using the standard reference CO 2 gas with known concentration and isotopic ratio. Drift in CCIA measurement due to varying CO 2 and water vapor concentration was evaluated and a humidity stabilizer was designed and developed to control the water vapor concentration of exhaust gas flow from OC-EC prior to entering the CCIA. A Keeling approach was applied to separate the ratio in the samples from the mixture of PM sample-produced CO 2 and reference gas and we developed a protocol to derive the isotopic composition of the particle samples. A lithium carbonate standard (in powder form) from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was used to validate measurement of δ 13 C ratios by CCIA. Offline measurement on ambient aerosol and diesel exhaust aerosols produced comparable results of isotopic ratio with literature values. This study demonstrates the utility of this tandem operation for carbon isotopic measurement of atmospheric particles with better than 1.0‰ precision as a cost-effective alternative of conventional Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IR-MS).

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“…Most European source apportionment studies to date have focused on Western Europe. However, sources of carbonaceous aerosols in Eastern Europe can differ from Western Europe (G� orka et al, 2014;Masalaite et al, 2012;Widory, 2006;Widory et al, 2004) and more studies in this region are needed. Source apportionment using 13 C was not very successful in Western Europe, because the main sources overlap (Martinsson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal changes of sources and volatility of carbonaceous aerosol at urban, coastal and forest sites in Eastern Europe (Lithuania)

Mašalaitė

Remeikis

Zenker

et al. 2020

Atmospheric Environment

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Stable isotopes in environmental investigations

Cited by 25 publications

References 51 publications

Seasonal Cycle of Isotope‐Based Source Apportionment of Elemental Carbon in Airborne Particulate Matter and Snow at Alert, Canada

Seasonal Cycle of Isotope‐Based Source Apportionment of Elemental Carbon in Airborne Particulate Matter and Snow at Alert, Canada

A Novel Tandem of Thermal Desorption Carbon Analyzer and Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy for Aerosol Stable Carbon Isotope Ratio Measurement

Seasonal changes of sources and volatility of carbonaceous aerosol at urban, coastal and forest sites in Eastern Europe (Lithuania)

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