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Snow Nitrate Isotopes in Central Antarctica Record the Prolonged Period of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion From ∼1960 to 2000

  • Guitao Shi*
  • , Ye Hu
  • , Hongmei Ma
  • , Su Jiang
  • , Zhenlou Chen
  • , Zhengyi Hu
  • , Chunlei An
  • , Bo Sun
  • , Meredith G. Hastings
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Ministry of Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China
  • East China Normal University
  • Polar Research Institute of China
  • Brown University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Interpretation of NO3− variability recorded in ice cores remains challenging as it can be lost from snow. Here, we present 60-year records of NO3− and its isotopic composition (δ15N, δ18O, and Δ17O) in snow in central Antarctica, Dome A. In the upper ∼90 cm snowpack, variations in concentration and isotopic composition of NO3− are dominated by photolytic loss, and δ18O and Δ17O of NO3− are associated with the recycling of NOx to NO3− in the condensed phase driven by photolysis. In the deeper snowpack (∼1960–2000), we observe prolonged trends in concentration and isotopic composition of NO3−, which are best explained as enhanced snow NO3− photolysis due to long-term decreasing total column ozone (TCO). That is, the prolonged period of trends in NO3− and its isotopes in extremely low snow accumulation sites such as Dome A relay information on variations in TCO and consequently surface solar ultraviolet radiation over time.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2022GL098986
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume49
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Jul 2022
Externally publishedYes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

  • central Antarctica
  • ice core nitrate
  • nitrogen and oxygen isotopes
  • stratospheric ozone depletion

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