An Ion-Chromatography Based Continuous Flow Analyzer for Soluble Chemical Species in Ice Cores

极地冰芯的化学分析是获取有关古气候历史和大气化学的宝贵信息的最有用的工具之一。对主要可溶化学杂质的测量是几乎所有冰芯研究计划和项目必不可少的组成部分。离子色谱(IC)是测定极地冰雪样品中所有主要和一些次要离子化学物种的最有效的分析技术。最近，基于熔体的连续流动分析(CFA)系统被开发出来，以提高化学分析速度，以满足对准确、高分辨率冰芯化学数据的高需求。由于光谱(紫外-可见光谱和荧光光谱)检测技术的局限性，目前的CFA系统无法测量熔融水中的所有主要阴离子和阳离子。极地雪中无法用光谱分析检测到的重要物种包括硫酸盐、甲烷磺酸盐、镁和钾。该奖项支持一个项目，即购买几台高质量的商用IC仪器，与新的冰芯融化系统对接，对包括硫酸盐和甲烷磺酸在内的所有主要离子物种进行连续、在线的冰芯分析。该项目将开发基于连续熔融和在线IC检测的综合冰芯化学分析系统。项目计划是：(1)建造一个新的冰芯融化系统，(2)获得离子色谱仪，(3)将离子色谱仪与熔化炉连接，以及(4)为集成的MILTER-IC系统开发附件、程序和协议，该系统可用于冰芯的常规实验室分析，并有可能用于大型野外冰芯项目。

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.