University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 2005 Glaciochemical records from the Saint Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada Kaplan B. Yalcin University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Yalcin, Kaplan B., "Glaciochemical records from the Saint Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada" (2005). Doctoral Dissertations. 293. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/293 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GLACIOCHEMICAL RECORDS FROM THE ST. ELIAS MOUNTAINS, YUKON, CANADA BY KAPLAN B. YALCIN B.S. with honors. University of Missouri, 1998 M.S., University of New Hampshire, 2001 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Earth and Environmental Science September 2005 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3183907 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3183907 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Tliis dissertation has been examined and approved. r r w Dissertation Director, Dr, Cameron P. Wake Research Associate Professor of Earth Sciences and EOS University of New Hampshire Dr Karl J Kreutz Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences and Quaternary Studies University of Maine Dr. J a ^ E. Dibb Research Associate Professor of Earth Sciences and EOS University of New Hampshire Dr David A. Fisher Research Scientist Geological Survey of Canada Di^-foseph M Licciardi Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences University of New Hampshire Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who made invaluable contributions to this project and who deserve my gratitude. First, I would like to thank Erik Blake for drilling the ice cores and the Geological Survey of Canada for logistical support. I am also grateful to Sarah Story and Zach Powers for help in processing the ice core and preparing the samples for analysis. I would also like to thank Sallie Whitlow for ion chromatograph analysis, Karl Kreutz and Doug Introne of the University of Maine for stable isotope analysis, and Mark German! for electron microprobe analysis of tephra. My thesis advisor, Cameron Wake, has guided me through all stages of my studies at the University of New Hampshire; I would like to thank him for all the opportunities he has opened for me and for believing in my abilities. Committee members Karl Kreutz, Jack Dibb, David Fisher, and Joe Licciardi, as well as Gerry Holdsworth, Karen Von Damm, Fritz Koerner, Kumiko Azuma, Erich Osterberg, and Chris Zdanowicz have provided valuable discussion and input at all stages of the project; I thank all of you for your guidance and insight. Finally, I am indebted to my wife, Rebecca, whose patience and love gave me the drive to see this project through to completion. This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs. My first year at the University of New Hampshire was supported by a Department of Earth Sciences teaching assistantship, and my last year was supported by a Climate Change Research Center assistantship. ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................................iü List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... x Abstract..................................................................................................................................................xii CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................1 Site Description and Regional Climatology ........................................................................... 4 Previous Glaciochemical Investigation in the Saint Elias Mountains .................................. 6 Dissertation Objectives............................................................................................................12 II. METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................19 Ice Core Recovery .................................................................................................................... 19 Major ion and Stable Isotope Analysis ..................................................................................20 Dating the Ice Core ................................................................................................................21 Data Analysis and Interpretation ............................................................................................24 Glaciochemical Time Series ...................................................................................................25 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. III. SEASONAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN SNOW CHEMSITRY AT ECLIPSE ICEFIELD, YUKON, CANADA........................................................................40 Abstract................................................................................................................................... 40 Introduction .............................................................................................................................41 Methods ............................................................. ..................................................................... 43 Results and Discussion............................................................................................................45 Snow chemical composition .................................................................................... 45 Sea-salt calculations .................................................................................................. 45 Dependence on accumulation rate ...........................................................................47 Seasonal variations ................................................................................................... 48 Spatial variations ........................................................................................................50 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................52 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................53 References...............................................................................................................................63 IV. AEROSOL, SNOW, AND FIRN CORE CHEMISTRY AT KING COL, MT. LOGAN MASSIF, YUKON, CANADA.............................................................................................6 6 Abstract................................................................................................................................... 6 6 Introduction .............................................................................................................................6 8 Methods ...................................................................................................................................69 Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................72 Characterization of King Col aerosol ......................................................................72 Temporal variations in aerosol concentrations ....................................................... 75 Characterization of fresh and surface snow chemistry ...........................................78 Relationships between aerosol and snow chemistry ...............................................79 King Col snowpit and firn core chemistry ...............................................................82