[I] Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice Core: The European effort to obtain a 1.5 Myr greenhouse gas - climate feedback record from an ice core in East Antarctica

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Special session: [S] Future plan of Antarctic research: Towards phase X of the Japanese Antarctic Research Project (2022-2028) and beyond, Tue. 3 Dec. / 2F Auditorium, National Institute of Polar Researc

The European project "Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice"

The Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice (BE-OI) consortium and its international partners unite a globally unique concentration of scientific expertise and infrastructure for ice-core investigations. It delivers the technical, scientific and financial basis for a comprehensive plan to retrieve an ice core up to 1.5 million years old. The consortium takes care of the pre-site surveys for site selection around Dome C and Dome Fuji, both potentially appropriate regions in East Antarctica. Other science consortia will investigate other regions under the umbrella of the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS). Here, we will provide an overview of the current project’s achievments and near future plans. In addition, we provide a detailed outlook into the BE-OI Drilling Phase operation envisaged for the next years up to 2025, the second stage of the project

Evidence of small microplastics in waters and sediments of the Venice Lagoon: quantitative analysis and polymer identification using Micro-FTIR

Microplastics are emerging pollutants in all environmental compartments (e.g. water, soil, sediments, etc.). Their contamination is well documented since 1970’s, although specific references to this topic were made in the US and in Europe in 2008. Microplastic particles are generally classified according their sizes, but the classification has been subject of lengthy debates. Finally, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA, 2019) has proposed the definition of microplastic as “a material composed of solid polymer-containing particles, to which additives or other substances may have been added, with particle dimensions ranging from 1 nm to 5 mm and with fiber lengths ranging from 3 nm to 15 mm and length to diameter ratio of >3. Furthermore, ECHA has firmly stated the need of polymer identification when analyzing microplastics. In literature several methods have been employed, especially microscopic methods which do not allow the identification of polymers. In these studies only a subset of samples was analyzed via FTIR. In several studies only large microplastics were studied and small microplastics were neglected, especially in water studies, since the mesh sizes of manta trawls can be either 330 µm or 100 µm. In this study small microplastics (1-100 µm) were studied in sediments and waters of the Venice Lagoon using micro-FTIR. These small particles can be mistaken as food particles and then ingested by the biota. Small microplastics can cause damages and obstructions of gastrointestinal tract, and they can be accumulated within the organisms along the trophic net. A method of purification, quantification and polymer identification was developed. Six sites in the Venice Lagoon were studied; preliminary findings showed differences among the sites studied

Theoretical and Experimental Analysis for Cleaning Ice Cores from EstisolTM 140 Drill Liquid

Featured ApplicationThis work gives indications for cleaning and preservation of ice cores, which will be drilled in Antarctica during the EU project Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice and provides general guidelines for ice drilling activities and preservation of ice cores.To reconstruct climate history of the past 1.5 Million years, the project: Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice (BEOI) will drill about 2700 m of ice core in East Antarctica (2021-2025). As drilling fluid, an aliphatic ester fluid, Estisol(TM) 140, will be used. Newly drilled ice cores will be retrieved from the drill soaked in fluid, and this fluid should be removed from the cores. Most of it will be vacuum-cleaned off in a Fluid Extraction Device and wiped off with paper towels. Based on our experiences in Greenland deep ice coring, most of the residual fluid can be removed by storing the cores openly on shelves in a ventilated room. After a week of "drying", the cores have a dry feel, handling them do not give "wet" gloves and they can easily be marked with lead pencils. This paper presents a theoretical investigation and some simple testing on the "drying" process. The rates of sublimation of ice and evaporation of fluid have been calculated at different temperatures. The calculations show that sublimation of the ice core should not occur, and that evaporation of fluid should be almost negligible. Our test results support these calculations, but also revealed significant fluid run-off and dripping, resulting in the removal of most of the fluid in a couple of days, independent of temperature and ventilation conditions. Finally, we discuss crucial factors that ensure optimal long-term ice core preservation in storage, such as temperature stability, defrosting cycles of freezers and open core storage versus storage of cores in insulated crates

Mapping environmental suitability for anthrax reemergence in the Arctic

Recent studies have raised concerns about the potential reemergence of infectious diseases in Arctic regions associated with warming temperatures. Among these, particular attention has been devoted to anthrax, as a consequence of the outbreak that occurred in the Russian Yamalo-Nenets peninsula in 2016. Understanding how environmental change might influence the diffusion of this pathogen could allow informed decisions to prevent further zoonotic or epidemic episodes. To that end, the present study aims to identify and investigate the driving variables that may favor anthrax transmission within the Arctic, in order to build environmental niche maps describing the future suitability of these regions for the pathogen. To do so, we use the MaxEnt statistical learning tool informed by Arctic-specific variables, such as reindeer herd distribution and active-layer variation. Because of the relative lack of reliable georeferenced information in these regions, the resulting potential distribution maps are to be considered preliminary, but they can already provide a first assessment tool for local communities living in potential risk areas. They also indicate areas in which additional investigation is needed to improve the reliability of environmental niche modeling, hence the accuracy of risk mapping and the usefulness to Arctic communities

The Marine Isotope Stage 19 in the mid-latitude North Atlantic Ocean: astronomical signature and intra-interglacial variability

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Benzothiazoles as Molecular Markers for Automobile Tire Derived Inputs: Occurrence and Phase Distribution in Highway Runoff and Road Dust

Over the past several decades, discharges of both wastewater and stormwater have been identified as one of the major causes of the deterioration observed in receiving waters (Lamprea and Ruban, 2011). The major sources are vehicle emissions, motor oil, tyre and brake wear, and road particles in urban environments. During rainfall events contaminants are washed into the stormwater system and then discharged. The Italian legislation (Legislative Decree no. 152 of 11 May 1999) provides a complete program for the protection of water bodies from pollution. The decree implements the community directive 91/271/EEC concerning the treatment of urban wastewater, that constitutes the reference standard for the EU member states. The Italian law focuses on the quality of the receiving water body with several monitoring activities for determining the environmental damage. Despite these steps forward, several pollutants are not determined and their impact and fate in the environment are unknown. Furthermore, a comprehensive determination of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) is crucial to understand the distribution of target compounds in dissolved phase and suspended particulate matter (Feltracco et al., 2022). The accumulation of road dust itself also serves as a notable pollutant source because it can be transported by runoff, and the associated pollutants could adversely affect the water ecosystem. Among the hazardous pollutants in dissolved phase, suspended particulate matter and road dust particles originating from tires, rubbers, and microplastics are often observed (Rosso et al., 2022), together with benzothiazoles. A total of eight benzothiazoles were determined in highway stormwater runoff and road collected from February to April 2022 near Venice (Casale sul Sile, Veneto Region, Italy). A full validated method is presented, by using an ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The target compounds were determined in both dissolved phase and suspended particulate matter of runoff. The road dust samples were divided in seven fractions depending on particles diameters to evaluate the fraction partitioning. The results underline that SO₃H-BTH was the most concentrated benzothiazole derivate in all the analysed substrates, suggesting the presence of tires debris as main source because it is used in the vulcanization processes. The three major compounds in the dissolved phase were inversely correlated with precipitation amount and positively correlated with the number of days after last rain event, while no correlation were found with suspended particulate matter. The road dust samples indicated a clear trend of the majority of benzothiazoles to distribute in the finest fraction (<63 µm). The distribution of 2-SCNMeS-BTH was opposite to the other benzothiazoles, suggesting a different source and environmental behaviour

Synchronous deposition of volcanic ash and sulfate aerosols over Greenland in 1783 from the Laki eruption (Iceland)

Sulfate aerosols from the 1783–1784 A.D. Laki eruption are widely used as a reference horizon for constraining Greenland ice core time scales, yet the timing of the arrival of the sulfate remains under discussion. Two ice cores from western Greenland, analyzed with high temporal resolution, confirm that sulfate aerosols arrived over Greenland late in 1783, concomitant with the tephra, elevated concentrations of Cd, Bi, and Tl, all indicators of volcanic emissions, and with a short‐lived Rare Earth Elements anomaly. Thereafter sulfate deposition declined rapidly. Very modest concentrations of sulfate in 1784 snowfall, evident in six Greenland cores, suggest a relatively short (less than 1 year) atmospheric residence time and an injection height limited to the lower stratosphere. An improved estimate of the associated stratospheric sulfate burden is calculated and provides an important input for models assessing climatic impacts of this volcanic eruption

Determination of Fe2+ and Fe3+ species by FIA-CRC-ICP-MS in Antarctic ice samples

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The new frontier of microstructural impurity research in polar ice

Deciphering the localisation of solid and dissolved impurities on the micron-scale in glacial ice remains a challenge, but is critical to understand the integrity of ice core records and internal deformation. Here we report on the state-of-the-art in microstructural impurity research by high- lighting recent progress in bringing together cryo-Raman spectroscopy and laser ablation induct- ively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). We show the potential of both methods and discuss possibilities to improve inter-method approaches aiming for a more holistic under- standing of the evolution of impurity localisation throughout the ice column, including post-depositional processes. In this framework, we elaborate on future research priorities such as LA-ICP-MS imaging on firn samples and integrating a large cryo-cell with imaging capabilities