Climatic and environmental records from Altai glaciers, Siberia, recovered from ice-cores and snow samples

A depth/accumulation scale for the Altai glaciers, Siberia, established based on δ18O and δD firn-ice cores analysis. In sequences of annual layers in the firn-ice cores recovered in 2001 and 2002, the mean annual snow accumulation was found to be 800 mm at 4115 m of the Belukha Snow-Firn Plateau. The transfer function was developed using the seasonality of accumulation layer profile with normalization of data from the nearby meteorological station. The δ18O and δD firn-ice core records compared with meteorological data and indices of atmospheric circulation patterns using regression analyses revealed a dominant source of moisture from Atlantic Ocean during summer and Pacific Ocean moisture during autumn. At the equal air temperatures the most remote source of moisture from Atlantic Ocean resulted in more negative values of δ18O composition under the negative values of North Atlantic Oscillation. Changes in the prevailing atmospheric circulation patterns (e.g., NAO, WPO) over the Altai Mountains are also reflected in the major ions content in snow, firn and ice samples. The anthropogenic emission inventory for Altai glaciers developed using ice-cores and snow pits sulfate and nitrate records.