Water-soluble elements in snow and ice on Mt. Yulong.
Melting of high-elevation glaciers can be accelerated by the deposition of light-absorbing aerosols (e.g., organic carbon, mineral dust), resulting in significant reductions of the surface albedo on glaciers. Organic carbon deposited in glaciers is of great significance to global carbon cycles, snow photochemistry, and air-snow exchange processes. In this work, various snow and ice samples were collected at high elevation sites (4300-4850masl) from Mt. Yulong on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau in 2015. These samples were analyzed for water-soluble organic carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), and water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIs) to elucidate the chemical species and compositions of the glaciers in the Mt. Yulong region. Generally, glacial meltwater had the lowest DOC content (0.39mgL-1), while fresh snow had the highest (2.03mgL-1) among various types of snow and ice samples. There were obvious spatial and temporal trends of DOC and WSIs in glaciers. The DOC and TN concentrations decreased in the order of fresh snow, snow meltwater, snowpit, and surface snow, resulting from the photolysis of DOC and snow's quick-melt effects. The surface snow had low DOC and TN depletion ratios in the melt season; specifically, the ratios were -0.79 and -0.19mgL-1d-1, respectively. In the winter season, the ratios of DOC and TN were remarkably higher, with values of -0.20mgL-1d-1and -0.08mgL-1d-1, respectively. A reduction of the DOC and TN content in glaciers was due to snow's quick melt and sublimation. Deposition of these light-absorbing impurities (LAPs) in glaciers might accelerate snowmelt and even glacial retreat.
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (AEMPC), School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing 210044, China. Electronic address: niuhw@lzb.ac.cn.
Hewen
H
Niu
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: shichang.kang@lzb.ac.cn.
Shichang
S
Kang
College of Earth Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Xiaofei
X
Shi
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Yuanqing
Y
He
Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 1 Arts Link, Singapore 117570, Singapore.
Xixi
X
Lu
College of Earth Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Xiaoyi
X
Shi
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Rukumesh
R
Paudyal
Qinling and Intones Geography Research Institute, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong 723001, Shaanxi, China.
Jiankuo
J
Du
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Shijin
S
Wang
Key Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Disaster Reducing of Gansu Province, China; Key Open Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Disaster Reduction of China, China.
Jun
J
Du
State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Jizu
J
Chen
Fast snow melting; Mt. Yulong; Tibetan Plateau; Total nitrogen; Water-soluble organic carbon