Over the past 15 years there has been much effort invested in microorganisms of glacial snow and ice on the Tibetan Plateau.These studies include:phenotypic characteristics of recovered isolates;factors(dust,temperature,altitude)influencing microbial abundance,diversity and community in one glacier;distribution of bacterial number,diversity,community along ice core depth;similarities and differences of regionally distributed ice core isolates;seasonal variation of bacterial abundance and diversity.The following need further study.Better methods for more information about the diversity,survival mechanism of glacial microorganism;more research about archaea and fungi;microbial resources;relation of glacial microorganisms with biogeochemical cycle and mass balance;research on altitude distribution.
Stable isotopic composition in Antarctic snow and ice is commonly regarded as one of invaluable palaeoclimate proxies and plays a critically important role in reconstructing past climate change.In this paper we summarized the spatial distribution and the controlling factors of δD,δ18O,d-excess and 17O-excess in Antarctic snow and ice,and discussed their reliability and applicability as palaeoclimate proxies.Recent progress in the stable isotopic records from Antarctic deep ice cores was reviewed,and perspectives on bridging the current understanding gaps were suggested.
This study investigates the regional distribution of marine aerosol originated species(Na+, Cl-, nss-SO42- and MSA) in the snow pits(or firn cores) collected along a transect between Zhongshan Station and the Grove Mountain area(450 km inland) on the eastern side of the Lambert Glacier Basin. Concentrations of Na+ and Cl- decrease exponentially with distance from the coast to 100 km inland(i.e., 1500 m a.s.l.). Statistical results demonstrate that distance from the coast inland and elevation affect the concentration of sea-salt originated ions in inland areas significantly. Increase of Cl-/Na+ ratio and higher variability in its standard deviation suggest that there are other sources of ions in addition to sea-salt in inland areas of the Antarctic continent. The concentrations of Na+ and Cl- from nine sampling sites in the Grove Mountain area are relatively higher than those from sites along CHINARE transect, although all sites are at similar distance inland. This phenomenon indicates that the barrier effect of the mountain may be the most important factor influencing ion deposition. In addition, nss-SO42- and MSA vary differently, with nss-SO42- decreasing with distance more significantly. This implies that sources and transporting pathways influence the deposition of the two sulfur compounds considerably, being supported by the spatial pattern of correlation coefficients between the nss-SO42- and MSA.
Nitrate,an oxidized product of NO x preserved in the polar ice cores,has often been used to estimate past changes of the atmospheric nitrogen cycle.A 102.65 m ice core drilled at DT-401(79°01'S,77°00'E) in 1999 provides an opportunity to investigate the possible influencing factors for the nitrate budget in the eastern Antarctica.We studied the relationship between the δ18O(representing the temperature),accumulation rate,volcanic deposition and the astronomical factors(such as the solar activities,supernovae,etc.),and the nitrate variation along the whole duration(2680-year) of the ice core.Prominent impacts of the accumulation rate acting on the nitrate flux rather than the concentration were detected.However,no significant correlation was found between the δ18O and the nitrate deposition characteristics(concentration and the flux variations).Volcanic deposition can significantly affect the deposition of nitrate with a decreasing trend accompanied by the nss-SO42(volcanic signal) peak values.Impacts of the solar activities on the nitrate deposition can be detected at this site,and three prominent periodicities(16.6,24.0 and 102.0 yr) were found for the nitrate concentration variations.Six climatic events(Dalton Minimum,Maunder Minimum,Sporer Minimum,Wolf Minimum,Oort Minimum and Medieval Maximum) during the past 1150 years were observed with lower nitrate values for the foregoing five events and higher value for the last one.
LI ChuanJinREN JiaWenQIN DaHeXIAO CunDeHOU ShuGuiLI YuanShengDING MingHu
