Seasonal and spatial variations of total organic carbon in snow from Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica
Student name: Ms Archana Dayal
Guide: Dr Prateek Sharma
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Thamban Meloth
Abstract: Ice sheets of Antarctica are important reservoirs of carbon. Organic carbon in snow plays a
crucial role in governing microbial processes and composition of the overlying atmosphere
through air-snow exchange. Reliable measurements of organic carbon in the modern snow
deposits are vital for understanding its utility as an important component of the global carbon
cycle. With this understanding, the concentration and flux of total organic carbon (TOC) were
measured for 20 snow cores (~400 samples) retrieved from a coast to inland transect in the
Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) in East Antarctica. The TOC concentrations in snow samples
along the PEL transect ranged from 25-940 µg L-1
. In the coastal section, TOC values ranged
from 50-940 µg L-1 which was higher than the concentration observed inland, 25-290 µg L-1
.
TOC flux ranged higher in the coast, 31-66 kgkm-2
yr
-1 with a mean of 46 kgkm-2
yr
-1
as compared
to 17-59 kgkm-2
yr
-1 with a mean of 31 kgkm-2
yr
-1 in inland. Thus, TOC concentration and flux
both ranged higher in the coast in summer while the values were higher during winter in the
inland region. Possible sources, spatial and seasonal variations of organic carbon
concentrations and fluxes are discussed in this report. Back trajectory model study revealed that
significant quantity of organic carbon during winter season could be derived from Patagonian
region in South America.
Keywords: Total Organic Carbon, Glaciochemistry, Snow, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica
