Evidence of isotopic fractionation during vapor exchange between the atmosphere and the snow surface in Greenland

Martin Vindbæk Madsen; Hans Christian Steen-Larsen; M. Hörhold; Jason E Box; S. Berben; Emilie Capron; A. Faber; A. Hubbard; M. Jensen; T Jones; S. Kipfstuhl; Iben Koldtoft; Helen Rose Pillar; Bruce Vaughn; Diana Vladimirova; Dorthe Dahl-Jensen

doi:10.1029/2018jd029619

Evidence of isotopic fractionation during vapor exchange between the atmosphere and the snow surface in Greenland

Martin Vindbæk Madsen, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, M. Hörhold, Jason E Box, S. Berben, Emilie Capron, A. Faber, A. Hubbard, M. Jensen, T Jones, S. Kipfstuhl, Iben Koldtoft, Helen Rose Pillar, Bruce Vaughn, Diana Vladimirova, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen

Climate and Geophysics

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Several recent studies from both Greenland and Antarctica have reported significant changes in the water isotopic composition of near-surface snow between precipitation events. These changes have been linked to isotopic exchange with atmospheric water vapor and sublimation-induced fractionation, but the processes are poorly constrained by observations. Understanding and quantifying these processes are crucial to both the interpretation of ice core climate proxies and the formulation of isotope-enabled general circulation models. Here, we present continuous measurements of the water isotopic composition in surface snow and atmospheric vapor together with near-surface atmospheric turbulence and snow-air latent and sensible heat fluxes, obtained at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project drilling site in summer 2016. For two 4-day-long time periods, significant diurnal variations in atmospheric water isotopologues are observed. A model is developed to explore the impact of this variability on the surface snow isotopic composition. Our model suggests that the snow isotopic composition in the upper subcentimeter of the snow exhibits a diurnal variation with amplitudes in δ¹⁸O and δD of ~2.5‰ and ~13‰, respectively. As comparison, such changes correspond to 10–20% of the magnitude of seasonal changes in interior Greenland snow pack isotopes and of the change across a glacial-interglacial transition. Importantly, our observation and model results suggest, that sublimation-induced fractionation needs to be included in simulations of exchanges between the vapor and the snow surface on diurnal timescales during summer cloud-free conditions in northeast Greenland.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Volume	124
Pages (from-to)	2932-2945
ISSN	2169-8953
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jd029619
Publication status	Published - 27 Mar 2019

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Madsen, M. V., Steen-Larsen, H. C., Hörhold, M., Box, J. E., Berben, S., Capron, E., Faber, A., Hubbard, A., Jensen, M., Jones, T., Kipfstuhl, S., Koldtoft, I., Pillar, H. R., Vaughn, B., Vladimirova, D., & Dahl-Jensen, D. (2019). Evidence of isotopic fractionation during vapor exchange between the atmosphere and the snow surface in Greenland. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124, 2932-2945. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jd029619

Madsen, MV, Steen-Larsen, HC, Hörhold, M, Box, JE, Berben, S, Capron, E, Faber, A, Hubbard, A, Jensen, M, Jones, T, Kipfstuhl, S, Koldtoft, I, Pillar, HR, Vaughn, B, Vladimirova, D & Dahl-Jensen, D 2019, 'Evidence of isotopic fractionation during vapor exchange between the atmosphere and the snow surface in Greenland', Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, vol. 124, pp. 2932-2945. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jd029619

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title = "Evidence of isotopic fractionation during vapor exchange between the atmosphere and the snow surface in Greenland",

abstract = "Several recent studies from both Greenland and Antarctica have reported significant changes in the water isotopic composition of near-surface snow between precipitation events. These changes have been linked to isotopic exchange with atmospheric water vapor and sublimation-induced fractionation, but the processes are poorly constrained by observations. Understanding and quantifying these processes are crucial to both the interpretation of ice core climate proxies and the formulation of isotope-enabled general circulation models. Here, we present continuous measurements of the water isotopic composition in surface snow and atmospheric vapor together with near-surface atmospheric turbulence and snow-air latent and sensible heat fluxes, obtained at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project drilling site in summer 2016. For two 4-day-long time periods, significant diurnal variations in atmospheric water isotopologues are observed. A model is developed to explore the impact of this variability on the surface snow isotopic composition. Our model suggests that the snow isotopic composition in the upper subcentimeter of the snow exhibits a diurnal variation with amplitudes in δ18O and δD of ~2.5‰ and ~13‰, respectively. As comparison, such changes correspond to 10–20% of the magnitude of seasonal changes in interior Greenland snow pack isotopes and of the change across a glacial-interglacial transition. Importantly, our observation and model results suggest, that sublimation-induced fractionation needs to be included in simulations of exchanges between the vapor and the snow surface on diurnal timescales during summer cloud-free conditions in northeast Greenland.",

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AU - Madsen, Martin Vindbæk

AU - Steen-Larsen, Hans Christian

AU - Hörhold, M.

AU - Box, Jason E

AU - Berben, S.

AU - Capron, Emilie

AU - Faber, A.

AU - Hubbard, A.

AU - Jensen, M.

AU - Jones, T

AU - Kipfstuhl, S.

AU - Koldtoft, Iben

AU - Pillar, Helen Rose

AU - Vaughn, Bruce

AU - Vladimirova, Diana

AU - Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe

PY - 2019/3/27

Y1 - 2019/3/27

N2 - Several recent studies from both Greenland and Antarctica have reported significant changes in the water isotopic composition of near-surface snow between precipitation events. These changes have been linked to isotopic exchange with atmospheric water vapor and sublimation-induced fractionation, but the processes are poorly constrained by observations. Understanding and quantifying these processes are crucial to both the interpretation of ice core climate proxies and the formulation of isotope-enabled general circulation models. Here, we present continuous measurements of the water isotopic composition in surface snow and atmospheric vapor together with near-surface atmospheric turbulence and snow-air latent and sensible heat fluxes, obtained at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project drilling site in summer 2016. For two 4-day-long time periods, significant diurnal variations in atmospheric water isotopologues are observed. A model is developed to explore the impact of this variability on the surface snow isotopic composition. Our model suggests that the snow isotopic composition in the upper subcentimeter of the snow exhibits a diurnal variation with amplitudes in δ18O and δD of ~2.5‰ and ~13‰, respectively. As comparison, such changes correspond to 10–20% of the magnitude of seasonal changes in interior Greenland snow pack isotopes and of the change across a glacial-interglacial transition. Importantly, our observation and model results suggest, that sublimation-induced fractionation needs to be included in simulations of exchanges between the vapor and the snow surface on diurnal timescales during summer cloud-free conditions in northeast Greenland.

AB - Several recent studies from both Greenland and Antarctica have reported significant changes in the water isotopic composition of near-surface snow between precipitation events. These changes have been linked to isotopic exchange with atmospheric water vapor and sublimation-induced fractionation, but the processes are poorly constrained by observations. Understanding and quantifying these processes are crucial to both the interpretation of ice core climate proxies and the formulation of isotope-enabled general circulation models. Here, we present continuous measurements of the water isotopic composition in surface snow and atmospheric vapor together with near-surface atmospheric turbulence and snow-air latent and sensible heat fluxes, obtained at the East Greenland Ice-Core Project drilling site in summer 2016. For two 4-day-long time periods, significant diurnal variations in atmospheric water isotopologues are observed. A model is developed to explore the impact of this variability on the surface snow isotopic composition. Our model suggests that the snow isotopic composition in the upper subcentimeter of the snow exhibits a diurnal variation with amplitudes in δ18O and δD of ~2.5‰ and ~13‰, respectively. As comparison, such changes correspond to 10–20% of the magnitude of seasonal changes in interior Greenland snow pack isotopes and of the change across a glacial-interglacial transition. Importantly, our observation and model results suggest, that sublimation-induced fractionation needs to be included in simulations of exchanges between the vapor and the snow surface on diurnal timescales during summer cloud-free conditions in northeast Greenland.

U2 - 10.1029/2018jd029619

DO - 10.1029/2018jd029619

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SN - 0148-0227

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SP - 2932

EP - 2945

JO - Journal of Geophysical Research

JF - Journal of Geophysical Research

ER -

Evidence of isotopic fractionation during vapor exchange between the atmosphere and the snow surface in Greenland

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