Premium
An Alpine ice‐core record of anthropogenic HF and HCl emissions
Author(s) -
Eichler Anja,
Schwikowski Margit,
Gäggeler Heinz W.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl012006
Subject(s) - glacier , ice core , precipitation , deposition (geology) , plateau (mathematics) , sea salt , environmental science , mineral dust , physical geography , incineration , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , climatology , atmospheric sciences , environmental chemistry , geomorphology , meteorology , chemistry , aerosol , geography , sediment , biology , mathematical analysis , ecology , mathematics , geotechnical engineering
Ice‐core records of an Alpine glacier from the southern Swiss Alps were used to reconstruct sources of inorganic F and Cl − in precipitation. Our results suggest that sea salt transported together with mineral dust mainly from the Saharan area is the predominant source of Cl − in the southern Alps. However, on the average 16% of the Cl − and most of the F deposition in the period 1937–94 could be related to HCl and HF emissions from anthropogenic sources. The record of non‐sea‐salt Cl − was found to represent the historical development of HCl emissions mainly from waste incineration in the Swiss Plateau, whereas the F deposition record reflects HF emissions from the aluminum industry in the Swiss Rhone valley. Thus, our data indicate a strong impact of emissions of short lived atmospheric species such as HCl and HF on local and regional precipitation chemistry.