Publication Date:
2011-08-16
Description:
Insoluble trace gases are trapped in polar ice at the firn-ice transition, at approximately 50 to 100 m below the surface, depending primarily on the site temperature and snow accumulation. Due to the different time scales for snow accumulation versus diffusion of gases through the snowpack, age differences between gases and the ice in which they are "trapped" can be large; e.g. several thousand years in central Antarctica (a low snow accumulation area). Models of trace gas diffusion in polar firn are used to relate firn air and ice core records of trace gases to their atmospheric history. We propose a new diffusion model based on the following contributions. First, the airflow transport model is revised in a poromechanics framework with specific emphasis on the non-homogeneous properties (convective layer, depth-dependent diffusivity and lock-in zone) and an almost-stagnant behavior described by Darcy's law (gravity effect). We then derive a non-linear least square multi-gas optimization scheme to calculate the effective firn diffusivity (automatic diffusivity tuning). The improvements associated with the additional constraints gained by the multi-gas approach are investigated (up to eleven gases for a single site are included in the optimization process). The model is applied to measured data from four Arctic (Devon Island, NEEM, North GRIP, Summit) and seven Antarctic (DE08, Berkner Island, Siple Dome, Dronning Maud Land, South Pole, Dome C, Vostok) sites and the depth-dependent diffusivity profiles are calculated. Among these different sites, a relationship between an increasing thickness of the lock-in zone defined from the isotopic composition of molecular nitrogen in firn air (denoted δ15N) and the snow accumulation rate is obtained, in accordance with observations. It is associated with reduced diffusivity depth-gradients in deep firn, which decreases gas density depth-gradients, at high accumulation rate sites. This has implications for the understanding of δ15N of N2 records in ice cores, in relation with past variations of the snow accumulation rate. Although the extent of layering is clearly a primary control on the thickness of the lock-in zone, our new approach that allows calculation of an estimated lock-in depth may lead to a better constraint on the age difference between the ice and entrapped gases.
Electronic ISSN:
1680-7375
Topics:
Geosciences
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