n-Alkanes in Fresh Snow in Hokkaido, Japan: Implications for Ice Core Studies

Figures & data

FIGURE 1. Snow sampling sites in Hokkaido, Japan.

FIGURE 2. n-Alkane distributions in the snow samples and the corresponding 5-day back trajectories for each sampled snowfall event in Sapporo. Sampling dates for S1–S8 are given in Table 1.

FIGURE 3. n-Alkane distributions in the snow samples and the corresponding 5-day back trajectories for each sampled snowfall event in Moshiri. Sampling dates for M1–M9 are given in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Sample information and n-alkane ranges, concentrations, and distributions in the Sapporo and Moshiri samples. ACL = average chain length, CPI = carbon preference index.

FIGURE 4. Total concentrations of the n-alkanes in the Sapporo snow samples (S1–S8), given as ng/L (meltwater).

FIGURE 5. Total concentrations of the n-alkanes in the Moshiri snow samples (M1–M9), given as ng/L (meltwater).

FIGURE 6. (a) Urban area extent in Asia, as the percentage of urban 0.5 × 0.5 km pixels in 5 × 5 km bins, (b) Land use classes and urban areas in Asia. Data for both parts a and b are from the MODIS 500-m global map of urban extent (Schneider et al., 2009, 2010). In part b, several land use classes are combined: forest includes all forest types (1–5); shruband grasslands include open and closed shrublands, savannas, and grasslands (6–10); and a land use class defined as a mosaic of crops and other land cover types is included in croplands (12,14). Numbers refer to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) scheme of 17 land use classes, (c) Distribution of C₄ vegetation in Asia (Still et al., 2009).

FIGURE 7. Average chain length (ACL, a unitless number) and wax percentage (%) in the Moshiri snow samples (M1–M9).

TABLE 2 Stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of the n-alkanes in the Sapporo and Moshiri samples. V-SMOW = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, and V-PDB = Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite.

FIGURE 8. δ¹³C and δD for C₂₇ in the Sapporo snow samples (S1–S8). V-SMOW = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, and V-PDB = Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite.

FIGURE 9. δ¹³C and δD for C₂₇ in the Moshiri snow samples (M1–M9). V-SMOW = Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, and V-PDB = Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite.

FIGURE 10. δD for C₂₇ in individual vegetation samples as a function of latitude. Measurements from existing literature (Bi et al., 2005; Chikaraishi and Naraoka, 2003; Sachse et al., 2006; Smith and Freeman, 2006) as well as previously unpublished measurements by Sankelo and Seki are shown. The area shaded gray represents the range of δD values for C₂₇ in the Hokkaido (Sapporo + Moshiri) snow samples.

FIGURE 11. δD for C₂₇ in surface soil samples (Rao et al., 2009; circles) and in the Hokkaido (Sapporo+ Moshiri) snow samples (diamonds) as a function of latitude.

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