Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Recent Increase In Black Carbon Concentrations From A Mt. Everest Ice Core Spanning 1860-2000 Ad, Susan D. Kaspari, M. Schwikowski, M. Gysel, M. G. Flanner, S. Kang, S. Hou, P. A. Mayewski

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

A Mt. Everest ice core spanning 1860–2000 AD and analyzed at high resolution for black carbon (BC) using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) demonstrates strong seasonality, with peak concentrations during the winter‐spring, and low concentrations during the summer monsoon season. BC concentrations from 1975–2000 relative to 1860–1975 have increased approximately threefold, indicating that BC from anthropogenic sources is being transported to high elevation regions of the Himalaya. The timing of the increase in BC is consistent with BC emission inventory data from South Asia and the Middle East, however since 1990 the ice core BC record does not indicate …