1
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Lombard MA, Brown EE, Saftner DM, Arienzo MM, Fuller-Thomson E, Brown CJ, Ayotte JD. Estimating Lithium Concentrations in Groundwater Used as Drinking Water for the Conterminous United States. Environ Sci Technol 2024; 58:1255-1264. [PMID: 38164924 PMCID: PMC10795177 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Lithium (Li) concentrations in drinking-water supplies are not regulated in the United States; however, Li is included in the 2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list of unregulated contaminants for monitoring by public water systems. Li is used pharmaceutically to treat bipolar disorder, and studies have linked its occurrence in drinking water to human-health outcomes. An extreme gradient boosting model was developed to estimate geogenic Li in drinking-water supply wells throughout the conterminous United States. The model was trained using Li measurements from ∼13,500 wells and predictor variables related to its natural occurrence in groundwater. The model predicts the probability of Li in four concentration classifications, ≤4 μg/L, >4 to ≤10 μg/L, >10 to ≤30 μg/L, and >30 μg/L. Model predictions were evaluated using wells held out from model training and with new data and have an accuracy of 47-65%. Important predictor variables include average annual precipitation, well depth, and soil geochemistry. Model predictions were mapped at a spatial resolution of 1 km2 and represent well depths associated with public- and private-supply wells. This model was developed by hydrologists and public-health researchers to estimate Li exposure from drinking water and compare to national-scale human-health data for a better understanding of dose-response to low (<30 μg/L) concentrations of Li.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa A. Lombard
- New
England Water Science Center, U.S. Geological
Survey, 331 Commerce Way, Pembroke, New Hampshire 03275, United States
| | - Eric E. Brown
- Centre
for Addiction and Mental Health, University
of Toronto, 80 Workman
Way, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6J 1H4
| | - Daniel M. Saftner
- Desert
Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Monica M. Arienzo
- Desert
Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Esme Fuller-Thomson
- Institute
for Life Course and Aging, University of
Toronto, 246 Bloor Street
West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1V4
| | - Craig J. Brown
- New
England Water Science Center, U.S. Geological
Survey, 339 Main Street, East Hartford, Connecticut 06108, United States
| | - Joseph D. Ayotte
- New
England Water Science Center, U.S. Geological
Survey, 331 Commerce Way, Pembroke, New Hampshire 03275, United States
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2
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Davidson J, Arienzo MM, Harrold Z, West C, Bandala ER, Easler S, Senft K. Polymer Characterization of Submerged Plastic Litter from Lake Tahoe, United States. Appl Spectrosc 2023; 77:1240-1252. [PMID: 37731356 PMCID: PMC10604391 DOI: 10.1177/00037028231201174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring plastic litter in the environment is critical to understanding the amount, sources, transport, fate, and environmental impact of this pollutant. However, few studies have monitored plastic litter on lakebeds which are potentially important environments for determining the fate and transport of plastic litter in freshwater basins. In this study, a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus was used for litter collection at the lakebed along five transects in Lake Tahoe, United States. Litter was brought to the surface and characterized by litter type. Plastic litter was subsampled, and polymer composition was determined using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The average plastic litter from the lakebed for the five dive transects was 83 ± 49 items per kilometer. The top plastic litter categories were other plastic litter (plastic litter that did not fall in another category), followed by food containers, bottles <2 L, plastic bags, and toys. These results are in line with prior studies on submerged litter, and intervention approaches or ongoing education are needed. The six polymers most frequently detected in the subsamples were polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene/expanded polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate/polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyamide. These observations reflect global plastic production and microplastic studies from lake surface water and sediments. We found that some litter subcategories were primarily comprised of a single polymer type, therefore, in studies where the polymer type cannot be measured but litter is categorized, these results could provide an estimate of the total polymer composition for select litter categories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Davidson
- Desert Research Institute, Northern Nevada Science Center, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Desert Research Institute, Northern Nevada Science Center, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Zoe Harrold
- Clear Horizons Consulting, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Colin West
- Clean Up the Cayes, DBA Clean Up the Lake, Incline Village, Nevada, USA
| | - Erick R Bandala
- Desert Research Institute, Southern Nevada Science Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
| | - Sadye Easler
- Clean Up the Cayes, DBA Clean Up the Lake, Incline Village, Nevada, USA
| | - Katie Senft
- University of California, Davis, Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Incline Village, Nevada, USA
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3
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Saftner DM, Bacon SN, Arienzo MM, Robtoy E, Schlauch K, Neveux I, Grzymski JJ, Carbone M. Predictions of Arsenic in Domestic Well Water Sourced from Alluvial Aquifers of the Western Great Basin, USA. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:3124-3133. [PMID: 36795051 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c07948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Chronic exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water can have wide-ranging health effects and is a global health concern. The domestic well population of the western Great Basin (WGB) is at increased risk of exposure to arsenic due to the hydrologic, geologic, and climatic setting of the region. A logistic regression (LR) model was developed to predict the probability of elevated arsenic (≥5 μg/L) in alluvial aquifers and assess the potential geologic hazard level posed to domestic well populations. Alluvial aquifers are susceptible to arsenic contamination, which is a concern because they are the primary source of water for domestic well users of the WGB. The probability of elevated arsenic at a domestic well is strongly influenced by tectonic and geothermal variables, including the total Quaternary fault length in the hydrographic basin and the distance between the sampled well and a geothermal system. The model had an overall accuracy of 81%, sensitivity of 92%, and specificity of 55%. Results show a >50% probability of elevated arsenic in untreated well water for approximately 49 thousand (64%) alluvial-aquifer domestic well users in northern Nevada, northeastern California, and western Utah.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M Saftner
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Steven N Bacon
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Erika Robtoy
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Karen Schlauch
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Iva Neveux
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Joseph J Grzymski
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - Michele Carbone
- University of Hawai'i Cancer Center, 701 Ilalo Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, United States
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4
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Arienzo MM, Saftner D, Bacon SN, Robtoy E, Neveux I, Schlauch K, Carbone M, Grzymski J. Naturally occurring metals in unregulated domestic wells in Nevada, USA. Sci Total Environ 2022; 851:158277. [PMID: 36029812 PMCID: PMC9588670 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The dominant source of drinking water in rural Nevada, United States, is privately-owned domestic wells. Because the water from these wells is unregulated with respect to government guidelines, it is the owner's responsibility to test their groundwater for heavy metals and other contaminants. Arsenic, lead, cadmium, and uranium have been previously measured at concentrations above Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines in Nevada groundwater. This is a public health concern because elevated levels of these metals are known to have negative health effects. We recruited individuals through a population health study, the Healthy Nevada Project, to submit drinking water samples from domestic wells for testing. Water samples were returned from 174 households with private wells. We found 22 % had arsenic concentrations exceeding the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 μg/L. Additionally, federal, state, or health-based guidelines were exceeded for 8 % of the households for uranium and iron, 6 % for lithium and manganese, 4 % for molybdenum, and 1 % for lead. The maximum observed concentrations of arsenic, uranium, and lead were ∼80, ∼5, and ∼1.5 times the EPA guideline values, respectively. 41 % of households had a treatment system and submitted both pre- and post-treatment water samples from their well. The household treatments were shown to reduce metal concentrations, but concentrations above guideline values were still observed. Many treatment systems cannot reduce the concentration below guideline values because of water chemistry, treatment failure, or improper treatment techniques. These results show the pressing need for continued education and outreach on regular testing of domestic well waters, proper treatment types, and health effects of metal contamination. These findings are potentially applicable to other arid areas where groundwater contamination of naturally occurring heavy metals occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA.
| | - Daniel Saftner
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Steven N Bacon
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Erika Robtoy
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Iva Neveux
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Karen Schlauch
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA
| | | | - Joseph Grzymski
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA; Renown Health, Reno, NV, USA
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5
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Liu P, Kaplan JO, Mickley LJ, Li Y, Chellman NJ, Arienzo MM, Kodros JK, Pierce JR, Sigl M, Freitag J, Mulvaney R, Curran MAJ, McConnell JR. Improved estimates of preindustrial biomass burning reduce the magnitude of aerosol climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. Sci Adv 2021; 7:7/22/eabc1379. [PMID: 34049885 PMCID: PMC8163089 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc1379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Fire plays a pivotal role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems and the chemical composition of the atmosphere and thus influences Earth's climate. The trend and magnitude of fire activity over the past few centuries are controversial, which hinders understanding of preindustrial to present-day aerosol radiative forcing. Here, we present evidence from records of 14 Antarctic ice cores and 1 central Andean ice core, suggesting that historical fire activity in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) exceeded present-day levels. To understand this observation, we use a global fire model to show that overall SH fire emissions could have declined by 30% over the 20th century, possibly because of the rapid expansion of land use for agriculture and animal production in middle to high latitudes. Radiative forcing calculations suggest that the decreasing trend in SH fire emissions over the past century largely compensates for the cooling effect of increasing aerosols from fossil fuel and biofuel sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Liu
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Jed O Kaplan
- Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Loretta J Mickley
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Yang Li
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Nathan J Chellman
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA
| | - John K Kodros
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Jeffrey R Pierce
- Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Michael Sigl
- Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- Climate and Environmental Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Johannes Freitag
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | | | - Mark A J Curran
- Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Joseph R McConnell
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA
- Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9AL, UK
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6
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Chellman N, Csank A, Gustin MS, Arienzo MM, Vargas Estrada M, McConnell JR. Comparison of co-located ice-core and tree-ring mercury records indicates potential radial translocation of mercury in whitebark pine. Sci Total Environ 2020; 743:140695. [PMID: 32679494 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Tree-ring records are a potential archive for reconstructing long-term historical trends in atmospheric mercury (Hg) concentrations. Although Hg preserved in tree rings has been shown to be derived largely from the atmosphere, quantitative relationships linking atmospheric concentrations to those in tree rings are limited. In addition, few tree-ring-based Hg records have been evaluated against co-located proxies of atmospheric Hg deposition or direct atmospheric measurements. Here we develop long-term Hg records extending from 1800 to 2018 CE using cores collected from two stands of whitebark pine located near the Upper Fremont Glacier in the Wind River Range, Wyoming, where a long-term record of atmospheric Hg deposition previously was developed from an ice core. The tree ring record showed that Hg concentrations increased beginning in 1800 CE to a broad peak centered at ~1960 CE, before decreasing to present, generally paralleling the ice-core record of Hg deposition. The exact timing and magnitude of the Hg increases in the trees, however, is offset earlier relative to the ice-core record. These discrepancies potentially arise from biotic processes that impact Hg uptake and preservation in whitebark pine, and results from an advection-diffusion model indicate that the temporal differences are consistent with radial movement of Hg within the trees. The forms of atmospheric Hg and seasonality may also impact the Hg record preserved by each archive, but are less likely to affect long-term trends. Further work is needed to assess radial Hg translocation in more controlled studies with larger sample sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Chellman
- Desert Research Institute, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Reno, NV 89512, United States; Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, United States.
| | - Adam Csank
- Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, United States
| | - Mae Sexauer Gustin
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, United States
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Desert Research Institute, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Reno, NV 89512, United States
| | - Margarita Vargas Estrada
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, United States
| | - Joseph R McConnell
- Desert Research Institute, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Reno, NV 89512, United States
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7
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McConnell JR, Chellman NJ, Wilson AI, Stohl A, Arienzo MM, Eckhardt S, Fritzsche D, Kipfstuhl S, Opel T, Place PF, Steffensen JP. Pervasive Arctic lead pollution suggests substantial growth in medieval silver production modulated by plague, climate, and conflict. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:14910-14915. [PMID: 31285330 PMCID: PMC6660774 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1904515116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Lead pollution in Arctic ice reflects large-scale historical changes in midlatitude industrial activities such as ancient lead/silver production and recent fossil fuel burning. Here we used measurements in a broad array of 13 accurately dated ice cores from Greenland and Severnaya Zemlya to document spatial and temporal changes in Arctic lead pollution from 200 BCE to 2010 CE, with interpretation focused on 500 to 2010 CE. Atmospheric transport modeling indicates that Arctic lead pollution was primarily from European emissions before the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. Temporal variability was surprisingly similar across the large swath of the Arctic represented by the array, with 250- to 300-fold increases in lead pollution observed from the Early Middle Ages to the 1970s industrial peak. Superimposed on these exponential changes were pronounced, multiannual to multidecadal variations, marked by increases coincident with exploitation of new mining regions, improved technologies, and periods of economic prosperity; and decreases coincident with climate disruptions, famines, major wars, and plagues. Results suggest substantial overall growth in lead/silver mining and smelting emissions-and so silver production-from the Early through High Middle Ages, particularly in northern Europe, with lower growth during the Late Middle Ages into the Early Modern Period. Near the end of the second plague pandemic (1348 to ∼1700 CE), lead pollution increased sharply through the Industrial Revolution. North American and European pollution abatement policies have reduced Arctic lead pollution by >80% since the 1970s, but recent levels remain ∼60-fold higher than at the start of the Middle Ages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph R McConnell
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512;
| | - Nathan J Chellman
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512
| | - Andrew I Wilson
- Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3LU, United Kingdom
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2PG, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Stohl
- Department of Atmospheric and Climate Research, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512
| | - Sabine Eckhardt
- Department of Atmospheric and Climate Research, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
| | - Diedrich Fritzsche
- Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Sepp Kipfstuhl
- Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Thomas Opel
- Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Philip F Place
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627
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8
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Arienzo MM, McConnell JR, Chellman N, Kipfstuhl S. Method for Correcting Continuous Ice-Core Elemental Measurements for Under-Recovery. Environ Sci Technol 2019; 53:5887-5894. [PMID: 31070370 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b00199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Measurement of elemental concentrations in ice cores are critical for determining atmospheric aerosol variations. For such measurements, acidified ice-core meltwater typically is analyzed continuously (<5 min after acidification) or discretely (∼3 months after acidification). The reduced acidification time during continuous analysis may result in a measured elemental concentration that is lower than the concentration of discrete analysis if particulates are not fully dissolved. To evaluate this, sections of three ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica were measured both continuously (4.5 min after acidification) and discretely (repeatedly from 1 to 151 days after continuous measurements), with discrete samples collected from the meltwater sample stream prior to continuous measurement. We show that elements such as Na, Sr, and S dissolved readily and therefore were fully recovered during continuous measurements. Average recovery for other elements was between 70 to 100% for Cd, Gd, Mg, Mn, U, and Yb, 50 to 90% for Ca, Ce, Sm, and V, and less than 50% for Al, Fe, and La. Given the advantages of continuous measurements, we conclude that the preferred method for ice-core measurements is continuous analysis with simultaneous discrete sample collection, followed by adjustment of the continuous measurements based on discrete sample analysis at least 3 months after acidification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences , Desert Research Institute , 2215 Raggio Parkway , Reno , Nevada 89512 , United States
| | - Joseph R McConnell
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences , Desert Research Institute , 2215 Raggio Parkway , Reno , Nevada 89512 , United States
| | - Nathan Chellman
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences , Desert Research Institute , 2215 Raggio Parkway , Reno , Nevada 89512 , United States
| | - Sepp Kipfstuhl
- Alfred Wegener Institute , Am Alten Hafen 26 , 27568 Bremerhaven , Germany
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9
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Gleason KE, McConnell JR, Arienzo MM, Chellman N, Calvin WM. Four-fold increase in solar forcing on snow in western U.S. burned forests since 1999. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2026. [PMID: 31048696 PMCID: PMC6497640 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09935-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Forest fires are increasing across the American West due to climate warming and fire suppression. Accelerated snow melt occurs in burned forests due to increased light transmission through the canopy and decreased snow albedo from deposition of light-absorbing impurities. Using satellite observations, we document up to an annual 9% growth in western forests burned since 1984, and 5 day earlier snow disappearance persisting for >10 years following fire. Here, we show that black carbon and burned woody debris darkens the snowpack and lowers snow albedo for 15 winters following fire, using measurements of snow collected from seven forested sites that burned between 2002 and 2016. We estimate a 372 to 443% increase in solar energy absorbed by snowpacks occurred beneath charred forests over the past two decades, with enhanced post-fire radiative forcing in 2018 causing earlier melt and snow disappearance in > 11% of forests in the western seasonal snow zone. The impacts of forest fire activity in the western US on snow melt are poorly quantified. Here the authors use satellite and field-based observations to document a four-fold increase in the solar forcing on snow in western burned forests from 1999 to 2018.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly E Gleason
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV, 89512, USA. .,Department of Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97207-0751, USA.
| | - Joseph R McConnell
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV, 89512, USA
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV, 89512, USA
| | - Nathan Chellman
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV, 89512, USA
| | - Wendy M Calvin
- Geological Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
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10
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McConnell JR, Wilson AI, Stohl A, Arienzo MM, Chellman NJ, Eckhardt S, Thompson EM, Pollard AM, Steffensen JP. Lead pollution recorded in Greenland ice indicates European emissions tracked plagues, wars, and imperial expansion during antiquity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:5726-5731. [PMID: 29760088 PMCID: PMC5984509 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721818115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Lead pollution in Arctic ice reflects midlatitude emissions from ancient lead-silver mining and smelting. The few reported measurements have been extrapolated to infer the performance of ancient economies, including comparisons of economic productivity and growth during the Roman Republican and Imperial periods. These studies were based on sparse sampling and inaccurate dating, limiting understanding of trends and specific linkages. Here we show, using a precisely dated record of estimated lead emissions between 1100 BCE and 800 CE derived from subannually resolved measurements in Greenland ice and detailed atmospheric transport modeling, that annual European lead emissions closely varied with historical events, including imperial expansion, wars, and major plagues. Emissions rose coeval with Phoenician expansion, accelerated during expanded Carthaginian and Roman mining primarily in the Iberian Peninsula, and reached a maximum under the Roman Empire. Emissions fluctuated synchronously with wars and political instability particularly during the Roman Republic, and plunged coincident with two major plagues in the second and third centuries, remaining low for >500 years. Bullion in silver coinage declined in parallel, reflecting the importance of lead-silver mining in ancient economies. Our results indicate sustained economic growth during the first two centuries of the Roman Empire, terminated by the second-century Antonine plague.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph R McConnell
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512;
- Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford, OX1 4AL Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew I Wilson
- Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, OX1 3LU Oxford, United Kingdom
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, OX1 3TG Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Stohl
- Department of Atmospheric and Climate Research, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
| | - Monica M Arienzo
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512
| | - Nathan J Chellman
- Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512
| | - Sabine Eckhardt
- Department of Atmospheric and Climate Research, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
| | | | - A Mark Pollard
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, OX1 3TG Oxford, United Kingdom
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11
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Arienzo MM, McConnell JR, Chellman N, Criscitiello AS, Curran M, Fritzsche D, Kipfstuhl S, Mulvaney R, Nolan M, Opel T, Sigl M, Steffensen JP. A Method for Continuous (239)Pu Determinations in Arctic and Antarctic Ice Cores. Environ Sci Technol 2016; 50:7066-7073. [PMID: 27244483 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric nuclear weapons testing (NWT) resulted in the injection of plutonium (Pu) into the atmosphere and subsequent global deposition. We present a new method for continuous semiquantitative measurement of (239)Pu in ice cores, which was used to develop annual records of fallout from NWT in ten ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The (239)Pu was measured directly using an inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometer, thereby reducing analysis time and increasing depth-resolution with respect to previous methods. To validate this method, we compared our one year averaged results to published (239)Pu records and other records of NWT. The (239)Pu profiles from the Arctic ice cores reflected global trends in NWT and were in agreement with discrete Pu profiles from lower latitude ice cores. The (239)Pu measurements in the Antarctic ice cores tracked low latitude NWT, consistent with previously published discrete records from Antarctica. Advantages of the continuous (239)Pu measurement method are (1) reduced sample preparation and analysis time; (2) no requirement for additional ice samples for NWT fallout determinations; (3) measurements are exactly coregistered with all other chemical, elemental, isotopic, and gas measurements from the continuous analytical system; and (4) the long half-life means the (239)Pu record is stable through time.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M Arienzo
- Desert Research Institute , 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - J R McConnell
- Desert Research Institute , 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - N Chellman
- Desert Research Institute , 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, United States
| | - A S Criscitiello
- University of Calgary , 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - M Curran
- Australian Antarctic Division, 203 Channel Highway, Kingston Tasmania 7050, Australia
- Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, University of Tasmania , Hobart 7001, Australia
| | - D Fritzsche
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Potsdam/Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - S Kipfstuhl
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Potsdam/Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - R Mulvaney
- British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
| | - M Nolan
- University of Alaska Fairbanks , 505 N Chandalar Dr, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, United States
| | - T Opel
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Potsdam/Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - M Sigl
- Paul Scherrer Institute , 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
| | - J P Steffensen
- Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, Denmark
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Arienzo MM, Swart PK, Vonhof HB. Measurement of δ18O and δ2H values of fluid inclusion water in speleothems using cavity ring-down spectroscopy compared with isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 2013; 27:2616-2624. [PMID: 24591022 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.6723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2013] [Revised: 08/13/2013] [Accepted: 08/26/2013] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE The hydrogen and oxygen isotopic analyses (δ(2)H and δ(18)O values) of water trapped within speleothem carbonate (fluid inclusions) have traditionally been conducted utilizing dual-inlet isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) or continuous-flow (CF)-IRMS methods. The application of cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) to the δ(2)H and δ(18)O analysis of water in fluid inclusions has been investigated at the University of Miami as an alternative method to CF-IRMS. METHODS An extraction line was developed to recover water from the fluid inclusions consisting of a crusher, sample injection port and an expansion volume (either 100 or 50 cm(3)) directly connected to the CRDS instrument. Tests were conducted to determine the reproducibility of standard water injections and crushes. In order to compare results with conventional analytical methods, samples were analyzed both at the University of Miami (CRDS method) and at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (CF-IRMS method). RESULTS The analytical reproducibility of speleothem samples crushed on the Miami Device demonstrates an average external standard deviation of 0.5 and 2.0 ‰ for δ(18)O and δ(2)H values, respectively. Sample data are shown to fall near the global meteoric water line, supporting the validity of the method. Three different samples were analyzed at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Miami in order to compare the performance of each laboratory. The average offset between the two laboratories is 0.7 ‰ for δ(18)O and 2.5 ‰ for δ(2)H. CONCLUSIONS The advantage of CRDS is that the system is a low-cost alternative to CF-IRMS for fluid inclusion isotope analysis. The CRDS method demonstrates acceptable precision and good agreement with results from the CF-IRMS method. These are promising results for the future application of CRDS to fluid inclusion isotope analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica M Arienzo
- RSMAS, University of Miami, Marine Geology and Geophysics, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA
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