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古气候历史和大气化学方面有价值信息的最有用工具之一。 主要可溶性化学杂质的测量是几乎所有冰芯研究计划和项目的必要和不可分割的一部分。 离子色谱（IC）是测量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，已经开发了基于熔化器的连续流分析（CFA）系统，以提高化学分析速度，从而满足对准确、高分辨率冰芯化学数据的高需求。 目前的CFA系统不能测量所有的主要阴离子和阳离子在融水，因为光谱（紫外可见分光光度法和荧光分光光度法）检测技术的限制。极地雪中无法用光谱法检测到的重要物质包括硫酸盐、甲磺酸盐、镁和钾。该奖项支持一个项目，以获得几个高质量的商业IC仪器，与新的冰芯融化系统接口，对所有主要离子种类进行连续的在线冰芯分析，包括硫酸盐和甲磺酸盐。 该项目将开发基于连续融化和在线IC检测和测定的集成冰芯化学分析系统。 项目计划是：（1）建立新的冰芯熔化器系统，（2）获得离子色谱仪，（3）将离子色谱仪与熔化器连接，以及（4）为集成的熔化器-IC系统开发附件、程序和协议，该集成的熔化器-IC系统可用于冰芯的常规实验室分析，并可能用于大规模的冰芯项目。

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.