Abstract
Black carbon (BC) is the second most important warming component in
the atmosphere after CO2. The BC in the Himalayas and the
Tibetan Plateau (HTP) has influenced the Indian monsoon and
accelerated the retreat of glaciers, resulting in serious
consequences for billions of Asian residents. Although a number of
related studies have been conducted in this region, the BC
concentrations and deposition rates remain poorly
constrained. Because of the presence of arid environments and the
potential influence of carbonates in mineral dust (MD), the reported
BC concentrations in the HTP are overestimated. In addition, large
discrepancies have been reported among the BC deposition derived
from lake cores, ice cores, snow pits and models. Therefore, the
actual BC concentration and deposition values in this sensitive
region must be determined. A comparison between the BC
concentrations in acid (HCl)-treated and untreated total suspected
particle samples from the HTP showed that the BC concentrations
previously reported for the Nam Co station (central part of the HTP)
and the Everest station (northern slope of the central Himalayas)
were overestimated by approximately 52 ± 35 and 39 ± 24 %, respectively, because of the influence of carbonates in
MD. Additionally, the organic carbon (OC) levels were overestimated
by approximately 22 ± 10 and 22 ± 12 % for the
same reason. Based on previously reported values from the study
region, we propose that the actual BC concentrations at the Nam Co
and Everest stations are 61 and 154 ng m−3,
respectively. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparison of the BC
deposition rates obtained via different methods indicated that the
deposition of BC in HTP lake cores was mainly related to river
sediment transport from the lake basin as a result of climate change
(e.g., increases in temperature and precipitation) and that
relatively little BC deposition occurred via atmospheric
deposition. Therefore, previously reported BC deposition rates from
lake cores overestimated the atmospheric deposition of BC in the
HTP. Correspondingly, BC deposition derived from snow pits and ice
cores agreed well with that derived from models, implying that the
BC depositions of these two methods reflect the actual values in the
HTP. Therefore, based on reported values from snow pits and ice
cores, we propose that the BC deposition in the HTP is 17. 9 ± 5. 3 mg m−2 a−1, with higher and lower values
appearing along the fringes and central areas of the HTP,
respectively. These adjusted BC concentrations and deposition values
in the HTP are critical for performing accurate evaluations of other
BC factors, such as atmospheric distribution, radiative forcing and
chemical transport in the HTP.
Citation
ID:
256504
Ref Key:
li2017atmosphericre-evaluating