Ice-core oleic acid tracks sub-Antarctic sea ice
Oleic acid in a Bouvet Island ice core covaries with MSA and winter–spring sea ice, suggesting a new marine biomarker.
Source
Organic Compounds in a Sub-Antarctic Ice Core: A Potential Suite of Sea Ice Markers
Study at a glance
- Design
- Other — Organic and major-ion chemistry in a dated Bouvet Island ice core vs sea-ice fields
- N
- Single 14.2 m ice core spanning 2001–2016
- Population
- Sub-Antarctic ice at Bouvet Island and upwind marine source regions
- Outcome
- Oleic acid / MSA covariance with winter–spring sea-ice concentration as biomarker potential
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
What they did
Authors measured organics and major ions in a 14.2 m Bouvet ice core (2001–2016), used PCA, mapped correlations with NSIDC sea-ice concentration, and ran 5-day NAME back trajectories.
What they found
MSA and oleic acid group on PC4 and correlate with sea ice along the winter–spring ice edge west of Bouvet (oleic acid vs MSA r = 0.79). Oxalate, formate, and acetate correlate with later-season ice farther south. Terpene SOA and long-chain terrestrial fatty acids were not detected.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The record is only 16 years and cannot reconstruct millennial sea ice. Oleic acid vs September SIE is modest (r = 0.45), MSA–SIE is weaker, and oxalate/formate/acetate sources remain unidentified.
Key terms
- MSA
- Methanesulfonic acid, a known ice-core tracer of marine biogenic sulfur and sea ice.
- Oleic acid
- A phytoplankton fatty acid proposed here as a new sea-ice biomarker.
- SIC
- Sea-ice concentration: fraction of a grid cell covered by ice.
- SIE
- Sea-ice extent: area where SIC exceeds 15%.
- Bouvet
- Remote sub-Antarctic volcanic island providing a marine-dominated ice-core site.
Flashcards
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The proposed new sea-ice biomarker is:
Common questions
Why Bouvet?
It is a remote marine site without a large terrestrial biosphere, so organics are more likely marine.
What links oleic acid to sea ice?
It correlates with MSA and with SIC along the spring ice-edge source region upwind of Bouvet.
Why were terpene SOA missing?
Marine terpene sources appear too weak to survive transport and detection in this core.
How was the core dated?
Annual cycles in oxygen isotopes and major ions, 2001–2016.
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