Sunlight-driven nitrate loss records Antarctic surface mass balance

Pete D. Akers (), Joël Savarino (), Nicolas Caillon, Aymeric P. M. Servettaz, Emmanuel Meur, Olivier Magand, Jean Martins, Cécile Agosta, Peter Crockford, Kanon Kobayashi, Shohei Hattori, Mark Curran, Tas Ommen, Lenneke Jong and Jason L. Roberts
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Pete D. Akers: Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Joël Savarino: Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Nicolas Caillon: Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Aymeric P. M. Servettaz: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Emmanuel Meur: Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Olivier Magand: Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Jean Martins: Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE
Cécile Agosta: Université Paris-Saclay
Peter Crockford: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Kanon Kobayashi: Tokyo Institute of Technology
Shohei Hattori: Tokyo Institute of Technology
Mark Curran: Energy, the Environment and Water
Tas Ommen: Energy, the Environment and Water
Lenneke Jong: Energy, the Environment and Water
Jason L. Roberts: Energy, the Environment and Water

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Standard proxies for reconstructing surface mass balance (SMB) in Antarctic ice cores are often inaccurate or coarsely resolved when applied to more complicated environments away from dome summits. Here, we propose an alternative SMB proxy based on photolytic fractionation of nitrogen isotopes in nitrate observed at 114 sites throughout East Antarctica. Applying this proxy approach to nitrate in a shallow core drilled at a moderate SMB site (Aurora Basin North), we reconstruct 700 years of SMB changes that agree well with changes estimated from ice core density and upstream surface topography. For the under-sampled transition zones between dome summits and the coast, we show that this proxy can provide past and present SMB values that reflect the immediate local environment and are derived independently from existing techniques.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31855-7

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