A 60-year atmospheric nitrate isotope record from a southeastern Greenland ice core with minimal postdepositional alteration

Abstract. Stable isotopes of atmospheric nitrate (NO3-) are valuable tools for tracing nitrogen sources and processes; however, their signals in ice core records are often disrupted by postdepositional processes. The ice core from the southeastern Dome (SE-Dome) in Greenland is a potential record of variations in atmospheric chemistry that has experienced a lower postdepositional effect owing to a high accumulation rate (∼1 m water equivalent per year). Herein, we report 60-year (1959–2014) δ15N(NO3-) and Δ17O(NO3-) records from the SE-Dome ice core. The δ15N(NO3-) decreased from 1960 to 1974 and exhibited clear seasonal changes (high in summer and low in winter). The Δ17O(NO3-) did not exhibit any significant long-term trends, but it did contain seasonal patterns. The mass-weighted annual average of δ15N(NO3-) values in the SE-Dome core were 4.2±2.8 ‰ lower than those in the Greenland Summit ice core between 1959 and 2006. The TRansfer of Atmospheric Nitrate Stable Isotopes To the Snow (TRANSITS) model under the SE-Dome condition estimated changes of only 0.9 ‰ for δ15N(NO3-) and −0.2 ‰ for Δ17O(NO3-) from the initial deposition. Although differences in the source of NO3- cannot be discounted, the lower δ15N(NO3-) values observed at SE-Dome compared to Summit were likely due to reduced postdepositional alteration. Therefore, the SE-Dome ice core NO3- record offers a precise reconstruction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from both North America and western Europe, as well as atmospheric oxidation chemistry and transport, thereby providing reliable insight into atmospheric nitrogen cycling.

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Journal
Atmospheric chemistry and physics
Published
2025-06-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5727-2025
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.34

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article

A 60-year atmospheric nitrate isotope record from a southeastern Greenland ice core with minimal postdepositional alteration

Koji Fujita, Alexis Lamothe, Zhuang Jiang, Shohei Hattori et al.
1 citations
Atmospheric chemistry and physics
Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry
1.34
article

A 60-year atmospheric nitrate isotope record from a southeastern Greenland ice core with minimal postdepositional alteration

Koji Fujita, Alexis Lamothe, Zhuang Jiang, Shohei Hattori, Sumito Matoba, Sakiko Ishino, Joël Savarino, Yoshinori Iizuka, Naohiro Yoshida, Ryu Uemura, Asuka Tsuruta, Lei Geng, Zhao Wei
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract. Stable isotopes of atmospheric nitrate (NO3-) are valuable tools for tracing nitrogen sources and processes; however, their signals in ice core records are often disrupted by postdepositional processes. The ice core from the southeastern Dome (SE-Dome) in Greenland is a potential record of variations in atmospheric chemistry that has experienced a lower postdepositional effect owing to a high accumulation rate (∼1 m water equivalent per year). Herein, we report 60-year (1959–2014) δ15N(NO3-) and Δ17O(NO3-) records from the SE-Dome ice core. The δ15N(NO3-) decreased from 1960 to 1974 and exhibited clear seasonal changes (high in summer and low in winter). The Δ17O(NO3-) did not exhibit any significant long-term trends, but it did contain seasonal patterns. The mass-weighted annual average of δ15N(NO3-) values in the SE-Dome core were 4.2±2.8 ‰ lower than those in the Greenland Summit ice core between 1959 and 2006. The TRansfer of Atmospheric Nitrate Stable Isotopes To the Snow (TRANSITS) model under the SE-Dome condition estimated changes of only 0.9 ‰ for δ15N(NO3-) and −0.2 ‰ for Δ17O(NO3-) from the initial deposition. Although differences in the source of NO3- cannot be discounted, the lower δ15N(NO3-) values observed at SE-Dome compared to Summit were likely due to reduced postdepositional alteration. Therefore, the SE-Dome ice core NO3- record offers a precise reconstruction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from both North America and western Europe, as well as atmospheric oxidation chemistry and transport, thereby providing reliable insight into atmospheric nitrogen cycling.

Atmospheric chemistry and physicsVol. 25(11)
Kanazawa University (JP), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (FR), Tokyo Institute of Technology (JP), University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Hokkaido University (JP), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), China National Space Administration (CN), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Centre de Recherche et d’Enseignement de Géosciences de l’Environnement (FR), Life Science Institute (JP), Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Institute of Science Tokyo (JP), Nagoya University (JP), Nanjing University (CN), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (JP)
Kanazawa University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nanjing University, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry
1.34
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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