The impact of volcanism on the chemical composition of Greenland ice sheet precipitation
Abstract
Major explosive volcanic eruptions have a dramatic impact on the impurity composition of Greenland precipitation. Concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb, Na, K, Mg, Ca, Al, F-, Cl-, NO3 and SO4 were measured on ice core samples representing the 18 year period 1869-1886 and the three year period 1782-1784 with a sample resolution of about six per year. Concentration peaks for most of these species occur within one year of each known eruption, although the impact of each eruption varied for different species. A number of lines of evidence suggest that volcanism is the major source of Zn, Cd, Cu, and Pb in other Greenland strata even in years without major eruptions. Concentrations of many metals in Greenland ice and in remote area air and precipitation are fairly well accounted for on the basis of a simple mixture of continental dust and volcanic material which is enriched in certain elements above average crustal composition. This enrichment is shown to be related primarily to the metal's chalcophile affinity and secondarily to the volatility of the metal's halide compounds.
- Publication:
-
Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 1980
- Bibcode:
- 1980PhDT........20H
- Keywords:
-
- Contaminants;
- Greenland;
- Land Ice;
- Precipitation (Meteorology);
- Volcanoes;
- Acid Rain;
- Chemical Composition;
- Halides;
- Halogen Compounds;
- Geophysics