# Swiss and French Alps Black Carbon, Ion and Trace Element Concentration Ice Core Data from 1755-2015 CE #----------------------------------------------------------------------- # World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, Boulder # and # NOAA Paleoclimatology Program #----------------------------------------------------------------------- # Template Version 4.0 # Encoding: UTF-8 # NOTE: Please cite original publication, NOAA Landing Page URL, dataset and publication DOIs (where available), and date accessed when using downloaded data. # If there is no publication information, please cite investigator, study title, NOAA Landing Page URL, and date accessed. # # Description/Documentation lines begin with '#' followed by a space # Data lines have no '#' # # NOAA_Landing_Page: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/paleo-search/study/37972 # Landing_Page_Description: NOAA Landing Page of this file's parent study, which includes all study metadata. # # Study_Level_JSON_Metadata: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/metadata/published/paleo/json/noaa-icecore-37972.json # Study_Level_JSON_Description: JSON metadata of this data file's parent study, which includes all study metadata. # # Data_Type: Ice Cores # # Dataset_DOI: 10.25921/rcsw-2625 # # Science_Keywords: Other Reconstruction, decadal resolution, trends #--------------------------------------- # Resource_Links # # Data_Download_Resource: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/icecore/europe/eichler2023/eichler2023-no3_gg.txt # Data_Download_Description: NOAA Template File; Nitrate Data # #--------------------------------------- # Contribution_Date # Date: 2023-04-28 #--------------------------------------- # File_Last_Modified_Date # Date: 2023-06-16 #--------------------------------------- # Title # Study_Name: Swiss and French Alps Black Carbon, Ion and Trace Element Concentration Ice Core Data from 1755-2015 CE #--------------------------------------- # Investigators # Investigators: Eichler, Anja (https://orcid.org/90000-0003-0206-7463); Legrand, Michel; Jenk, Theo (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6820-8615); Preunkert, Susanne; Schwikowski, Margit (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0856-5183) #--------------------------------------- # Description_Notes_and_Keywords # Description: # Provided Keywords: Alpine ice cores, air pollution #--------------------------------------- # Publication # Authors: Eichler, A., M. Legrand, T.M. Jenk, S. Preunkert, C. Andersson, S. Eckhardt, M. Engardt, A. Plach, M. Schwikowski # Published_Date_or_Year: 2023 # Published_Title: Consistent histories of anthropogenic Western European air pollution preserved in different Alpine ice cores # Journal_Name: The Cryosphere # Volume: 17 # Edition: # Issue: 5 # Pages: 2119–2137 # Report_Number: # DOI: 10.5194/tc-17-2119-2023 # Online_Resource: # Full_Citation: # Abstract: Individual high-Alpine ice cores have been proven to contain a well preserved history of past anthropogenic air pollution in Western Europe. The question, how representative one ice core is with respect to the reconstruction of atmospheric composition in the source region, has not been addressed so far. Here, we present the first study systematically comparing long-term ice-core records (AD 1750–2015) of various anthropogenic compounds, such as major inorganic aerosol constituents (NH4+, NO3-, SO42-), black carbon (BC), and trace species (Cd, F-, Pb). Several ice cores from four high-Alpine sites located in the European Alps analysed by different laboratories for this set of air pollutants were used. All seven investigated anthropogenic compounds feature an excellent agreement in the species-dependent long-term concentration trends at the different sites. This is related to common source regions of air pollution impacting the less than 100 km distant four sites including Western European countries surrounding the Alps, i.e. Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Spain. For individual compounds, the Alpine ice-core composites developed in this study allowed us to precisely time the onset of pollution caused by industrialization in Western Europe. Extensive emissions from coal combustion and agriculture lead to an exceeding of pre-industrial (AD 1750–1850) concentration levels already at the end of the 19th century for BC, Pb, exSO42- (non-dust, non-sea salt SO42-) and NH4+, respectively. However, Cd, F-, and NO3- concentrations started surpassing pre-industrial values only in the 20th century, predominantly due to pollution from zinc and aluminium smelters and traffic. The observed maxima of BC, Cd, F-, Pb, and exSO42- concentrations in the 20th century and a significant decline afterwards, clearly reveal the efficiency of air pollution control measures such as desulphurisation of coal, the introduction of filters and scrubbers in power plants and metal smelters, and the ban of leaded gasoline improving the air quality in Western Europe. In contrast, the composite records of NO3- and NH4+ show levels in the beginning of the 21th century, which are unprecedented in the context of the past 250 years, indicating that the introduced abatement measures to reduce these pollutants were insufficient to have a major effect at high altitudes in Western Europe. Only four ice-core composite records (BC, F-, Pb, exSO42-) of the seven investigated pollutants correspond well with modelled trends. Our results demonstrate that individual ice-core records from different sites in the European Alps provide a spatial representative signal of anthropogenic pollution from Western European countries and are essential to constrain emission or deposition data of air pollutants in this region. #--------------------------------------- # Funding_Agency # Funding_Agency_Name: # Grant: #--------------------------------------- # Site_Information # Site_Name: Grenzgletscher (GG) # Location: Switzerland # Northernmost_Latitude: 45.924 # Southernmost_Latitude: 45.924 # Easternmost_Longitude: 7.868 # Westernmost_Longitude: 7.868 # Elevation_m: #--------------------------------------- # Data_Collection # Collection_Name: NO3_GG # First_Year: 1755 # Last_Year: 2015 # Time_Unit: year Common Era # Core_Length_m: # Parameter_Keywords: chemistry # Notes: Major ion (NH4+, NO3-, SO42-), black carbon (BC), and trace element (Cd, F-, Pb) concentrations are compiled for up to five Alpine ice cores from four sites in 10-year resolution Alpine ice core sites: Colle Gnifetti (CG), Col Du Dôme (CDD), Fiescherhorn (FH), Grenzgletscher (GG). Details of the ice cores are given in the underlying study Eichler et al. (2023) and references herein. 10-year averages are based on 1-year averages of total annual layers. For the CDD site summer/winter averages are additionally given (CDD su/wi). #--------------------------------------- # Chronology_Information # Chronology: #--------------------------------------- # Variables # PaST_Thesaurus_Download_Resource: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/paleo-search/skos/past-thesaurus.rdf # PaST_Thesaurus_Download_Description: Paleoenvironmental Standard Terms (PaST) Thesaurus terms, definitions, and relationships in SKOS format. # # Data variables follow that are preceded by "##" in columns one and two. # Variables list, one per line, shortname-tab-var components: what, material, error, units, seasonality, data type, detail, method, C or N for Character or Numeric data) # ## age_AD ice age,,,year Common Era,,ice core,,,N ,age (midpoint 1755:1750-1759) ## GG_NO3 nitrate,,,microgram per liter,,ice core,,ion chromatography,N ,Grenzgletscher (GG) ice core; 10-year averages based on 1-year averages of total annual layer data ## GG_NO3_err nitrate,,one standard error,microgram per liter,,ice core,,ion chromatography,N ,Grenzgletscher (GG) ice core; 10-year averages based on 1-year averages of total annual layer data #------------------------ # Data: # Data lines follow (have no #) # Data line format - tab-delimited text, variable short name as header # Missing_Values: -999 age_AD GG_NO3 GG_NO3_err 2015 -999 -999 2005 -999 -999 1995 -999 -999 1985 -999 -999 1975 298.31 39.93 1965 188.89 27.53 1955 141.21 9.84 1945 114.78 16.80 1935 73.31 6.74 1925 -999 -999 1915 -999 -999 1905 -999 -999 1895 -999 -999 1885 -999 -999 1875 -999 -999 1865 -999 -999 1855 -999 -999 1845 -999 -999 1835 -999 -999 1825 -999 -999 1815 -999 -999 1805 -999 -999 1795 -999 -999 1785 -999 -999 1775 -999 -999 1765 -999 -999 1755 -999 -999