Chemical analysis of polar ice cores is one of the most useful tools for obtaining valuable information on paleoclimate history and atmospheric chemistry. Measurements of major soluble chemical impurities are a necessary and integral part of almost all ice core research programs and projects. Ion chromatography (IC) is the most effective analytical technique for measuring all major and some minor ionic chemical species in polar snow and ice samples. Recently, melter-based continuous flow analysis (CFA) systems have been developed to increase chemical analysis speeds in order to meet the high demand for accurate, high-resolution ice core chemistry data. Current CFA systems cannot measure all of the major anions and cations in meltwater because of the limitations of the spectrometric (UV-visible spectrophotometry and spectrofluorometry) detection techniques. Important species in polar snow that cannot be detected by spectrometry include sulfate, methanesulfonate, magnesium and potassium. This award supports a project to acquire several high-quality, commercial IC instruments to interface with a new ice core melting system to perform continuous, on-line ice core analysis for all major ionic species, including sulfate and methanesulfonate. The project will develop an integrated ice core chemical analysis system based on continuous melting and on-line IC detection and determination. Project plans are: (1) to build a new ice core melter system, (2) to acquire the ion chromatographs, (3) to interface the ion chromatographs with the melter, and (4) to develop accessories, procedures and protocols for the integrated melter-IC system that can be used in routine lab analysis of ice cores and potentially in large field ice core programs.
