A 20th-century record of naphthalene in an ice core from Svalbard

Abstract

Measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a 122 m ice-core record from Lomonosovfonna, Svalbard, showed only naphthalene (NAP) to be detectable with our small (average 56 g) sample sizes. Prior to the 1930s, NAP was below our determination limit, but its concentration increased to a peak in the 1980s. In general, concentrations (5-53 ng kg-1) arc six times lower than for Agassiz Ice Cap, Canada, but about 50 times higher than in Greenland. Correlation of NAP with physical and chemical parameters in the core strongly suggests wintertime deposition of NAP with Arctic haze. Post-depositional effects of periodic melting appear slight, probably due to the hydrophobic nature of NAP. The contribution made to the record by small coal-mining activities on Svalbard appears to be small compared with anthropogenic emissions from long-range sources.