Post-depositional migration and preservation of methanesulfonic acid (MSA) in polar ice cores

Abstract:

Methanesulfonic acid (MSA; CH₃SO₃^-) in ice cores is a unique, high-resolution proxy of regional sea ice behavior, marine primary productivity, and synoptic climatology. Significant uncertainties remain, however, in both our understanding of the production and transfer of MSA to the ice sheet, as well as its preservation over time, compromising the paleoclimatological utility of the proxy. Here we apply a numerical modeling approach to quantitatively investigate the post-depositional processes affecting MSA migration and preservation within the firn and ice column, building on recent observational and theoretical studies. Our model allows us to evaluate the timing and magnitude of the vertical movement of MSA in response to varying influences, including the competing effects of 1) concentration gradients of sea-salts typically deposited asynchronously to MSA, 2) snow accumulation and densification rates, and 3) in situ temperature gradients. We first test the model against a recently collected ice core from a high accumulation site in coastal West Antarctica, where monthly-resolved MSA records show an abrupt shift from a summer-to-winter maximum in MSA at ~23m depth (ρ ≈ 650 kg/m³), near the firn-ice transition. We find our model to be a robust predictor of the observed migrational features in this record, capturing both (i) the abrupt shift in summer-to-winter maximal concentrations of MSA (steady state ≈ 3.2 yrs), and (ii) the depression of the seasonal amplitude at depth. Further, our modeling results suggest post-depositional effects can lead to substantial interannual alteration of the MSA signal, contrary to previous assumptions that MSA migration is confined within annual layers at high accumulation sites. Using a broad range of polar MSA records and their associated, site-specific environmental conditions, we will evaluate the fidelity of subannual to interannual variability of MSA records and systematically determine the factors conducive to its migration.