Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning
Wildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information ab...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-04-01
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| Series: | Climate of the Past |
| Online Access: | http://www.clim-past.net/13/395/2017/cp-13-395-2017.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818545389533396992 |
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| author | M. M. Grieman M. Aydin D. Fritzsche J. R. McConnell T. Opel M. Sigl E. S. Saltzman |
| author_facet | M. M. Grieman M. Aydin D. Fritzsche J. R. McConnell T. Opel M. Sigl E. S. Saltzman |
| author_sort | M. M. Grieman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems,
climate, atmospheric chemistry, and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records
are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and
the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information
about long-term biomass burning variations in Siberia, the largest forested
area in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study we report analyses of aromatic
acids (vanillic and <i>para</i>-hydroxybenzoic acids) over the past 2600 years in
the Eurasian Arctic Akademii Nauk ice core. These compounds are
aerosol-borne, semi-volatile organic compounds derived from lignin
combustion. The analyses were made using ion chromatography with electrospray
mass spectrometric detection. The levels of these aromatic acids ranged from
below the detection limit (0.01 to 0.05 ppb;
1 ppb = 1000 ng L<sup>−1</sup>) to about 1 ppb, with roughly 30 % of
the samples above the detection limit. In the preindustrial late Holocene,
highly elevated aromatic acid levels are observed during three distinct
periods (650–300 BCE, 340–660 CE, and 1460–1660 CE). The timing of the
two most recent periods coincides with the episodic pulsing of ice-rafted
debris in the North Atlantic known as Bond events and a weakened Asian
monsoon, suggesting a link between fires and large-scale climate variability
on millennial timescales. Aromatic acid levels also are elevated during the
onset of the industrial period from 1780 to 1860 CE, but with a different
ratio of vanillic and <i>para</i>-hydroxybenzoic acid than is observed during the
preindustrial period. This study provides the first millennial-scale record
of aromatic acids. This study clearly demonstrates that coherent aromatic
acid signals are recorded in polar ice cores that can be used as proxies for
past trends in biomass burning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:39:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6da1236303324e50b7e680239baa4e53 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1814-9324 1814-9332 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:39:38Z |
| publishDate | 2017-04-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Climate of the Past |
| spelling | doaj.art-6da1236303324e50b7e680239baa4e532022-12-22T00:32:50ZengCopernicus PublicationsClimate of the Past1814-93241814-93322017-04-0113439541010.5194/cp-13-395-2017Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burningM. M. Grieman0M. Aydin1D. Fritzsche2J. R. McConnell3T. Opel4M. Sigl5E. S. Saltzman6Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697-3100, USADepartment of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697-3100, USAAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, GermanyDivision of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada, USAAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, GermanyLaboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697-3100, USAWildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information about long-term biomass burning variations in Siberia, the largest forested area in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study we report analyses of aromatic acids (vanillic and <i>para</i>-hydroxybenzoic acids) over the past 2600 years in the Eurasian Arctic Akademii Nauk ice core. These compounds are aerosol-borne, semi-volatile organic compounds derived from lignin combustion. The analyses were made using ion chromatography with electrospray mass spectrometric detection. The levels of these aromatic acids ranged from below the detection limit (0.01 to 0.05 ppb; 1 ppb = 1000 ng L<sup>−1</sup>) to about 1 ppb, with roughly 30 % of the samples above the detection limit. In the preindustrial late Holocene, highly elevated aromatic acid levels are observed during three distinct periods (650–300 BCE, 340–660 CE, and 1460–1660 CE). The timing of the two most recent periods coincides with the episodic pulsing of ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic known as Bond events and a weakened Asian monsoon, suggesting a link between fires and large-scale climate variability on millennial timescales. Aromatic acid levels also are elevated during the onset of the industrial period from 1780 to 1860 CE, but with a different ratio of vanillic and <i>para</i>-hydroxybenzoic acid than is observed during the preindustrial period. This study provides the first millennial-scale record of aromatic acids. This study clearly demonstrates that coherent aromatic acid signals are recorded in polar ice cores that can be used as proxies for past trends in biomass burning.http://www.clim-past.net/13/395/2017/cp-13-395-2017.pdf |
| spellingShingle | M. M. Grieman M. Aydin D. Fritzsche J. R. McConnell T. Opel M. Sigl E. S. Saltzman Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning Climate of the Past |
| title | Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning |
| title_full | Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning |
| title_fullStr | Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning |
| title_short | Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning |
| title_sort | aromatic acids in a eurasian arctic ice core a 2600 year proxy record of biomass burning |
| url | http://www.clim-past.net/13/395/2017/cp-13-395-2017.pdf |
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