Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Environmental Pollution
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol

Black carbon deposited in Hariqin Glacier of the Central Tibetan

Plateau record changes in the emission from Eurasia*
Mo Wang a, b, Baiqing Xu a, b, *, Hailong Wang c, Rudong Zhang c, Yang Yang d,
Shaopeng Gao a, Xiangxiang Tang e, Ninglian Wang b, f
a
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
b
CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
c
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
d
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing, 210044, China
e
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
f
College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710172, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Black carbon (BC), by the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass, has profound effects on climate change
Received 24 May 2020 and glacier retreat in industrial eras. In the present study, we report refractory BC (rBC) in an ice core
Received in revised form spanning 1850e2014, retrieved from the Hariqin Glacier of the Tanggula Mountains in the central Ti-
12 September 2020
betan Plateau, measured using a single particle soot photometer (SP2). The rBC concentration shows a
Accepted 4 October 2020
Available online 27 October 2020
three-fold increase since the 1950s. The mean rBC concentration was 0.71 ± 0.52 ng mL
1 during 1850s
e1940s and 2.11 ± 1.60 ng mL
1 during 1950se2010s. The substantial increase in rBC since the 1950s is
consistent with rBC ice core records from the Tibetan Plateau and Eastern Europe. According to the
Keywords:
Black carbon
predominant atmospheric circulation patterns over the glacier and timing of changes in regional
Ice core emissions, the post-1950 amplification of rBC concentration in the central Tibetan Plateau most likely
Tibetan Plateau reflects increases in emissions in Eastern Europe, former USSR, the Middle East, and South Asia. Despite
Industrial era the low-level background rBC concentrations in the ice cores from the Tibetan Plateau, the present study
Anthropogenic emissions highlights a remarkable increase in anthropogenic BC emissions in recent decades and the consequent
influence on glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau.
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Black carbon (BC), emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels
and biomass, is an aggregate of small carbon spherules character-
ized by its strong visible light absorption, high thermal stability,
and low chemical reactivity (Bond et al., 2013; Petzold et al., 2013).
BC shows a very strong absorption of solar radiation and plays an
important role in climate change. BC suspended in the atmosphere,
incorporated into cloud droplets, and deposited on the snow sur-
face may result in a positive energy budget for the earth’s system
(Ramanathan and Carmichael, 2008; Xu et al., 2009; Painter et al.,
2013). It is considered to be the second strongest climate
*
This paper has been recommended for acceptance by Admir C. Targino.
* Corresponding author. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, No. 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, PR China.
E-mail address: baiqing@itpcas.ac.cn (B. Xu).
warming forcing agent after carbon dioxide (Jacobson, 2001; Bond
et al., 2013; IPCC, 2013) and may be highly related to the low- to
mid-latitude glacier retreat in the industrial era when energy
consumption has been widely increased (Xu et al., 2009; Painter
et al., 2013). However, due to the limitations in atmospheric BC
observations, both temporally and spatially, large uncertainties
exist in its historical emissions and, therefore, the quantification of
its climate effects. An analysis of BC deposited in seasonal snow and
permanent glaciers provides an opportunity to understand the
spatial distribution and temporal changes of BC deposition (e.g., Xu
et al., 2006; McConnell et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2009; Huang et al.,
2011; Wang et al., 2013; Gabbi et al., 2015; Rowe et al., 2019;
Gramsch et al., 2020). To obtain long-term emission information of
anthropogenic BC, ice core records of BC have been used to
reconstruct historical BC emissions including, but not limited to, ice
cores from Europe (Lavanchy et al., 1999; Legrand, 2007; Lim et al.,
2017), Greenland (McConnell et al., 2007), North America
(Zdanowicz et al., 2018; Kaspari et al., 2020), South America

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115778
0269-7491/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al. Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778

(Osmont et al., 2019), and Antarctica (Sigl et al., 2013; Bisiaux et al.,
2012).
In the Tibetan Plateau (TP), some efforts have been made to
reconstruct BC emission history using ice cores (e.g., Ming et al.,
2009; Xu et al., 2009; Kaspari et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2015;
Jenkins et al., 2016). Xu et al. (2009) reconstructed BC deposited in
Tibetan glaciers using thermal-optical methods extending back to
the 1950s from five ice cores. Their research demonstrated that the
southern Tibetan Plateau was dominated by South Asian emissions
and the variation of BC was characterized by a rapid increase since
1980; northern TP affected by emissions mainly from Europe and
Central Asia did not show this feature. However, for a longer history
spanning back to the mid-19th century, only three BC ice core re-
cords have been obtained from different locations on the Tibetan
Plateau. It is worth noting that the BC mass in these ice cores is
measured by a laser-induced incandescence method and is named
as refractory BC (rBC) (Petzold et al., 2013). An ice core from the
Muztagh Ata, eastern Pamirs, spanning the period from the 1820s
to 2000, shows a consistent increase in rBC concentration since the
1970s and peaks around 1990, which suggests a substantial influ-
ence of the emissions from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Wang
et al., 2015). On the northern slope of Himalaya, an ice core from Mt.
Everest exhibits a clear increase in rBC concentration since the
1970s, but with peaks at ~1980, indicating the important contri-
bution of emissions mainly from the Middle East and South Asia
(Kaspari et al., 2011). The rBC concentration in an ice core record
from the 1840se1980s from Mt. Geladaindong, central Tibetan
Plateau, presents a noticeable increase since the 1940s but no
evident peaks (Jenkins et al., 2016). Therefore, the timing of the BC
increases and peak varies with the emission history of the main
source regions to a large extent.
As the onset of expanded industrial emissions occurred in the
mid-19th century, in the present study, we report the rBC deposi-
tion history of 1850e2014 recorded in the upper 28.7 m of a 146-m Fig. 1. (a) Spatial distribution of BC emissions in 2000 (Bond et al., 2007). The blue
ice core retrieved from the Hariqin glacier, central Tibetan Plateau. square represents the location of the Hariqin glacier in this study and black squares
mark the locations of Muztagh Ata (6350 m a.s.l.) (Wang et al., 2015), Everest (6520 m
The variation in rBC concentration is discussed along with historical a.s.l.) (Kaspari et al., 2011), Geladaindong (5750 m a.s.l.) (Jenkins et al., 2016), and
BC emissions and compared with rBC records from previous ice Elbrus (5115 m a.s.l.) (Lim et al., 2017) ice cores from previous studies. Two main air
cores. This study is essential to comprehensively assess the climatic mass trajectories to the TP are marked by arrows. Westerlies are marked by blue ar-
impact of BC on the Tibetan Plateau. rows and summer monsoons in cyan; (b) Landsat imagery of the Hariqin glacier. The
blue square marks the location of ice-core drilling sites. (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of
2. Materials and methods this article.)

2.1. Ice core drilling site

The Hariqin ice core (33 080 N, 92 060 E; 5670 m a.s.l.) was
retrieved using an electro-mechanical drill in May 2015 from the
northern slope of the central Tanggula Mountains, central Tibetan
Plateau (Fig. 1). This region is primarily influenced by westerly at-
mospheric circulation in winter and, when the westerly moves
northward in summer, it is dominated by the Indian monsoon (Tian
et al., 2001; Joswiak et al., 2010; Kang et al., 2010; Yao et al., 2013).
Precipitation during the monsoon season (from June to September)
in this region accounts for more than 80% of the annual total. The
ice core is 146 m in length and 8 cm in diameter. The top 28.7 m of
the ice core was used for rBC analysis in the present study to
reconstruct BC deposition since 1850.
2.2. Sampling process
One-quarter section of the ice core was processed in Lanzhou,
China, at the State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science in prep-
aration for rBC analysis. The core was cut into segments in an in-
terval of 2.5 cm, which resulted in 1355 samples for both rBC and
d18O analysis and 8 samples per year on average. The outer layer of
each ice sample was removed using a pre-cleaned scalpel knife and
2
the inner part was sealed in a clean polyethylene bag. Immediately
after the samples were melted at 15  C, the liquid samples for rBC
measurements were separated and sealed into 15-mL polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) bottles. The samples were kept at a low tem-
perature (
15  C) and transferred to the Key Laboratory of Tibetan
Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Chinese Acad-
emy of Sciences, for rBC concentration analysis.
2.3. Analysis methods
The samples for rBC measurement were settled to melt and
sonicated for 25 min prior to the analysis. The liquid samples were
nebulized using a nebulizer (CETAC, U-5000AT, WA, USA) and the
produced particles were connected to the inlet of a single particle
soot photometer (SP2, Droplet Measurement Technologies, Inc.,
Boulder, Colorado; Schwarz et al., 2006) for rBC concentration
measurements. The SP2 uses laser-induced incandescence to
measure the mass of rBC on a particle-by-particle basis. Individual
rBC particles pass through an intra-cavity laser (1064 nm). When
their vaporization temperature (~4200 K) is reached, they emit
visible thermal radiation. The peak intensity of the thermal
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al.
radiation, which is detected by two photomultipliers tubes
covering broadband (~400e800 nm) and narrowband
(~600e800 nm) wavelength ranges, is proportional to the rBC mass
in the particles; the rBC mass with a diameter range of ~70e500 nm
was measured. Standard Aquadag (Acheson Inc., USA; 10 ng mL
1)
was measured for every 20 samples to monitor the stability of SP2.
The Aquadag particle had an equal ratio between broadband and
narrowband incandescence signals as the rBC was recovered from
the ice core samples (Kaspari et al., 2011). The relative standard
deviation (RSD) was within 8% for standard Aquadag samples and
within 15% for the ice core samples. In addition, the nebulizer ef-
ficiency was calculated by measuring the Polystyrene Sphere Latex
(PSL) standard samples before and after the ice core sample anal-
ysis every day. The nebulization efficiency was determined to be
approximately 15% in the current research measurement (Gao et al.,
2018).
Stable oxygen isotopes (d18O values) were analyzed at the State
Key Laboratory of Cryosphereic Science (SKLCS). The ice samples
were melted at room temperature and measured using a Picarro
L1102-i Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer. d18O measurements were
provided as per mil deviations relative to the Vienna Standard
Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW2). The precision of the d18O mea-
surements is better than 0.1‰.
2.4. Ice core dating
The Hariqin ice core in the present study was dated using sea-
sonal variations in d18O (Fig. S1). Previous studies have shown that
the d18O in the snow pit, precipitation, and ice cores in the central
Tibetan Plateau exhibit a seasonal cycle with low values in the
summeremonsoon seasons and high values in the winterespring
(non-monsoon seasons) (Kang et al., 2010; Yao et al., 2013). Based
on this seasonal variation, the Hariqin ice core was dated by
counting the annual layers. The top 28.7 m of the ice core was
accordingly dated to cover the period 1850e2014. Resolution in the
d18O record is 9 samples per year for 1930e2014 and 7 samples per
year for 1850e1929 on average. The established depth-age scale
was verified by the depth of peaks in b-activity from Fukushima
nuclear accident (2011), Chernobyl event (1986) and the atmo-
spheric nuclear bomb tests (1963). Dating uncertainty from 1963 to
2014 is estimated to be less than 2 years based on the depth of the
b-activity peaks. The dating uncertainty is estimated to be less than
8 years from 1850 to 1962 by performing annual layer counting
twice using different boundary conditions. A thinning trend is
shown in the annual ice thickness from the top to the bottom of ice
core, which is consistent with thinning with depth occurring in the
glacier due to glacier flow. In the present study as we primarily
focus on changes in rBC on the decadal scale, the dating un-
certainties do not affect our main conclusions.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Long-term variation of rBC in the Hariqin ice core
Fig. 2 shows the annual and 5-year mean rBC concentrations
from 1850 to 2014 in the Hariqin ice core. Note that 5-year mean
rBC deposition fluxes estimated based on annual accumulation are
also shown. To understand the long-term variation and identify the
timing of the peaks of rBC concentration and deposition flux, the
time series of annual rBC concentrations are smoothed using a fast
Fourier transform (FFT) signal processing method to remove short-
term fluctuations (Fig. S2). On intra-annual timescales, rBC con-
centrations in the ice core varied largely from 1850 to 2014. The
median annual rBC concentration was 0.83 ng mL
1, with a mini-
mum value of 0.17 ng mL
1 in 1896 and a maximum value of
3
Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778
7.84 ng mL
1 in 1976. The annual mean rBC concentrations were
relatively constant and low from 1850 to 1950. There was a
discernible increase in the 1950s/60s, a remarkable increase since
1970, followed by a substantial decrease in the 1990s. The annual
rBC concentration reached its maximum in the most recent years
(c.a. 2010). The rBC concentration presented a three-fold increase
since 1950; the mean rBC concentration from 1850 to 1950 (in-
dustrial period, “IP”) was 0.71 ± 0.52 ng mL
1 and increased to
2.11 ± 1.60 ng mL
1 from 1950 to 2014 (contemporary period, “CP”).
In addition, the annual rBC deposition flux exhibited a correlated
variation with rBC concentration and illustrated a three-fold in-
crease from 1950 to 2014 as well. The rBC deposition flux was
10.56 ± 7.78 ng cm
2 year
1 in IP and 34.09 ± 28.66 ng cm
2 year
1
in CP. The increasing trend since 1950 in the Hariqin ice core was
consistent with the rBC ice core records from the Tibetan Plateau
and Eastern Europe (see Section 3.3).
The rBC concentrations in the 1970s were notably high, which
was comparable to the post-2010 rBC concentration (Fig. 2). The
peak of rBC concentrations in the 1970s was most likely not pro-
duced by an increased emission because neither energy con-
sumption (HYDE database) nor emission inventories (Bond et al.,
2007) (Fig. S2) showed remarkably high values. The 10-year aver-
aged rBC concentration and deposition flux in the 1970s showed a
value similar to that in the 1980s (Fig. S2), although the annual rBC
concentration shows several spikes. The smoothed time series us-
ing the 11-point FFT shows a peak around 1980 (Fig. S2).
3.2. Potential source regions
BC deposited in the Hariqin glacier is likely from long-range
transport, instead of local sources, due to very limited human ac-
tivities at high elevations and remote locations. The contribution of
emissions from a specific region to BC deposition varies with
location and season. Generally speaking, the northern and north-
western TP is under the influence of westerlies and, therefore, the
emissions originating from Europe, the Middle East, and Central
Asia; the southern TP is influenced by the south branch of west-
erlies and the Indian monsoon, consequently contributed by
emissions from South Asia (Xu et al., 2009; Yao et al., 2013; Wang
et al., 2019). The northern bound of the influence of Indian
monsoon over the TP is located around 34e35 N during monsoon
seasons (Tian et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2019). The Hariqin glacier is
located within this northern bound and is consequently influenced
by both westerlies and monsoons (Fig. 1a). Therefore, rBC deposi-
tion on the Hariqin glacier is affected by emissions in the upwind
regions, that is, South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and
Europe.
To identify the source regions of air masses reaching the drilling
site, model simulations of 7-day backward trajectories for 6 indi-
vidual years (i.e. 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010) were
conducted using the HYSPLIT model (Draxler and Rolph, 2003) and
NCEP reanalysis meteorological dataset. The backward trajectories
began at 2000 m above the ice core drill site and at 0:00 Jan 8 for
each year. The model was run every 6 h to produce one trajectory.
As a result, there were 8596 trajectories for 6 years. The spatial
frequency distribution plot indicates that the main source origins of
the air mass reaching the site are located in South Asia, Central Asia,
the Middle East, and Eastern Europe (Fig. 2b). These source regions
were further verified by global aerosol model simulations. A
quantified attribution of BC deposition using the global emissions
in the year 2000 over most areas of the Tibetan Plateau shows
relatively higher contributions from South Asia, Central Asia, and
the Middle East (Wang et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2015).
Additionally, we used the time series of energy-related BC
emissions in South Asia, the Middle East, former USSR, and Eastern
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al. Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778

Fig. 2. (a) Time series of annual mean rBC concentration (ng mL
1, gray dashed line), 5-year averaged rBC concentration (ng mL
1, black solid line), and 5-year averaged rBC annual
deposition flux (ng cm
2 year
1, gray shaded area) retrieved from the Hariqin ice core. The regional total BC emissions (Bond et al., 2007) in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and
former USSR are illustrated by light-gray lines with triangles and in South Asia by dark-gray lines with circles, correspondingly. The pink line with squares is the sum of emissions
from all these regions; (b) the spatial distribution of the frequency plot of 7-day trajectories for six years (i.e. 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010), using HYSPLIT and NCEP
reanalysis. Back trajectories simulations were run every 6 h. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this
article.)

Europe (Bond et al., 2007) to compare with the evolution of rBC
concentrations in the Hariqin ice core (Fig. 2a). Among those re-
gions, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and former USSR are in the
upwind direction of the site during the prevailing westerlies, while
South Asia is in the upwind during the summer monsoon. As the
rBC deposition on the Hariqin glacier is contributed by emissions
from the upwind regions of both westerlies and the monsoons,
emissions from East Europe, Middle East, former USSR and South
Asia are plotted to compare with the rBC record. In the 1950s/60s
when the emission in South Asia is weak, the increase of rBC
deposition in Hariqin ice core is more likely dominated by BC
emissions in the upwind regions of the westerlies. Since the 1970s,
with growing BC emission in South Asia, its contribution to the rBC
deposition in Hariqin ice core has very possibly increased. The
subsequent rBC changes with an initial decrease at the end of 1980s
and an evident decline in the 1990s are highly consistent with the
trends of the total BC emissions from all of the major source regions
(Fig. 2). The profound downward trend in BC emissions from the
end of 1980s through the 1990s is mainly caused by the energy
consumption decrease in Eastern Europe and former USSR (Fig. S2)
due to the dissolution of the former USSR and economic decline in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This is in good agreement with
previous studies. For instance, a distinct rBC decrease in the 1990s
was observed in the ice core record from Mt. Muztagh Ata (Wang
et al., 2015), as shown in Fig. 3. Moreover, the heavy metals in the
Belukha ice core records from the Altai Mountains, which typically
reflect anthropogenic emissions from the former USSR, show a
significant synchronous decrease in the 1990s due to the economic
downturn (Eichler et al., 2012, 2014).
To verify the relationship between the rBC concentrations
recorded in the ice core and regional emissions, a linear regression
analysis was performed. The results (Fig. S3) show that rBC con-
centrations averaged over 5-year periods were significantly corre-
lated with the sum of emissions in Eastern Europe, the Middle East,
and former USSR (R ¼ 0.61, P < 0.0005) and with the emissions in
South Asia (R ¼ 0.74, P < 0.0001). The rBC concentrations showed a
more significant correlation with the sum of emissions in all re-
gions mentioned above (R ¼ 0.76, P < 0.0001). Therefore, BC

4
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al. Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778

Elbrus ice core is that it primarily reflected emissions in Europe,

especially in eastern Europe (Lim et al., 2017), which is one of the
contributors to rBC deposition at the Hariqin ice core drilling site. It
is worthy noting that all rBC results discussed in the present study
(i.e., Muztagh Ata, Geladaindong, Everest and Elbrus ice core re-
cords) were derived from the SP2 analyzer. Since the SP2 is sensi-
tive to BC types (Laborde, 2012), we also note that Aquadag
(Acheson Inc., USA) was used to calibrate the SP2 in the studies of
Muztagh Ata, Geladaindong and Everest ice core records, and full-
enrene soot (Alfa Aesar Inc., USA) was used in the study of Elbrus ice
core record. BC results derived from thermal methods in previous
studies (e.g., Ming et al., 2009; Xu et al., 2009) were excluded from
the discussion. This is because the BC fraction qualified by thermal
methods is largely different from the BC by the SP2 analyzer
(Petzold et al., 2013; Ruppel et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2015; Osmont
et al., 2018), which is mainly due to the following two reasons. (1)
The SP2 qualifies the refractory BC fraction with a very high
vaporization temperature (~4200 K), which is associated with a
strong light absorption, whereas thermal methods measure all
carbon oxidized at 650  C. (2) The size range of BC particles
measured by the SP2 is smaller than that by the thermal methods.
For example, BC particles measured by SP2 are distributed in the
size range of ~80e500 nm in the current study. However, thermal
methods preferentially measure BC particles larger than 1000 nm
(Wang et al., 2012). Due to the reasons above, BC concentrations
derived from thermal methods are usually higher than the values
from the SP2.

Fig. 3. Standardized rBC records from the Elbrus ice core (Lim et al., 2017), Muztagh
Ata ice core (Wang et al., 2015), Hariqin ice core (present study), Geladaindong ice core
(Jenkins et al., 2016), and Everest ice core (Kaspari et al., 2011). The vertical dashed
lines represent annual z-score values and the bold lines with dots illustrate 5-year
running average z-score values. The horizontal dash lines mark the mean levels
prior to 1950 for corresponding ice core records.
emissions in the upwind regions of both westerlies and the mon-
soons were crucial to the rBC deposition at the drilling site, while
the South Asian emissions transported by the summer monsoon
were probably a more important contributor than the emissions in
Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and former USSR.
3.3. Comparisons with other ice core records
We compare the Hariqin ice core rBC record with previous
studies regarding rBC variations to further understand the sources,
transport, and deposition over the TP. Fig. 3 shows the standardized
rBC concentrations (by removing the mean from 1850 to 1950 and
then dividing by the standard deviation for the same period) in ice
cores from the TP (i.e. Muztagh Ata, Geladaindong, and Everest; ice
core drilling sites are marked in Fig. 1) and the Elbrus ice core
(Kaspari et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2015; Jenkins et al., 2016; Lim
et al., 2017). The reason for including the rBC record from the
3.3.1. rBC temporal variation
As discussed in Section 3.1, rBC concentrations in the Hariqin ice
core showed a three-fold increase in the CP compared with the IP.
Regarding the temporal variation and trends in rBC concentrations,
the amplification of rBC concentrations during CP is consistent with
that in Muztagh Ata and Everest ice cores, both of which show a
two-to three-fold increase (Kaspari et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2015).
However, rBC concentrations in the Geladaindong ice core (Jenkins
et al., 2016), which is approximately 100 km northwest of the
Hariqin ice core (Fig. 1), show a relatively weak (1.5-fold) increase
since 1950. This is very likely related to the unavailability of post-
1982 ice core records that possibly had an increase in rBC con-
centration (Kang et al., 2015; Jenkins et al., 2016). Hence, the
contribution of anthropogenic BC emissions to the glacier and
snowmelt on the TP has increased three-fold since the 1950s.
Despite the similar magnitudes of rBC increases in the Tibetan
ice cores, the timings of the increases and peaks in rBC concen-
trations were not in concert (Fig. 3). The rBC record from the Har-
iqin ice core shows the start of a relatively weak increase in the
1950s. The timing of the rBC increase in the Hariqin record is
consistent with the record from the Geladaindong ice core that
started in the 1940s. However, the rBC in the Muztagh Ata and
Everest ice cores did not start increasing until the 1970s. The timing

Table 1
Statistical results of rBC concentrations (ng mL
1) in the contemporary period (post-1950) and industrial period (1850e1949) from the Tibetan Plateau ice core records.

Period Ice Core Name N total Mean Standard Deviation Minimum Median Maximum

Contemporary Period (CP) Hariqin 65 2.11 1.60 0.41 1.64 7.84

Everesta 52 0.49 0.51 0.07 0.37 2.70
Muztagh Ataa 51 0.97 0.78 0.06 0.74 3.51
Geladaindonga 33 1.27 1.00 0.26 0.98 4.68
Industrial Period (IP) Hariqin 100 0.71 0.52 0.17 0.55 3.59
Everesta 90 0.21 0.18 0.02 0.15 1.22
Muztagh Ataa 75 0.38 0.21 0.05 0.34 0.91
Geladaindonga 100 0.77 0.74 0.08 0.61 6.28
a
The rBC concentrations in Everest (Kaspari et al., 2011), Muztagh Ata (Wang et al., 2015), and Geladaindong (Jenkins et al., 2016) ice cores were underestimated.

5
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al.
of the increase largely depended on the anthropogenic BC emis-
sions in the source regions. The rBC records from the Muztagh Ata
and Everest ice cores to a large extent reflect the emissions in
Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, which mostly
increased after 1970 (Fig. S2). The rBC record from the Elbrus ice
core was retrieved from high-altitude Eastern Europe and was
largely impacted by the emissions in the European continent,
particularly in Eastern Europe (Fig. 3). It shows a rapid and constant
increase since 1950. Therefore, the rBC increase during the 1950s/
60s in the Hariqin ice core might be attributable to the emissions in
Europe, more likely in the eastern European region. However, the
rBC peak approximately at 1980 in the Hariqin ice core record,
which is consistent with the Everest record, indicates an increased
influence of South Asia and Middle East emissions on the BC
deposition at the Hariqin drilling site (Section 3.2) in addition to the
Eastern Europe emissions. Interestingly, all ice core records illus-
trated herein show substantial decreases in the 1990s. As discussed
in Section 3.2, the decrease is due to the reduction of energy con-
sumption and consequent emissions, which was associated with
the dissolution of former USSR and economic recession in Central
Asia and Eastern Europe. Since 2000, the rBC concentration in the
Hariqin ice core had a remarkable increase, while there was only a
slight increase in the Elbrus ice core. This suggests a largely
increased contribution of emissions from main source regions, such
as South Asia.
3.3.2. rBC concentrations
The Geladaindong drilling site is very close to the Hariqin dril-
ling site (Fig. 1), and therefore, rBC ice core records are expected to
be in good agreement between the two. For the overlapping period
between the two ice core records (i.e., 1850e1982), the differences
in the rBC concentrations between those two ice cores were not
statistically significant by the paired t-test (p ¼ 0.650), despite an
underestimation of rBC concentrations in the Geladaindong ice
core (Jenkins et al., 2016). The mean rBC concentration is
0.89 ± 0.84 ng mL
1 in the Geladaindong ice core from 1850 to
1982, compared to 0.94 ± 1.00 ng mL
1 in the Hariqin ice core. More
detailed information is provided in Table 1. However, in the Muz-
tagh Ata and Everest ice cores, rBC concentrations are much lower
than in the Hariqin ice core. The rBC concentration during IP is
0.38 ± 0.21 and 0.21 ± 0.18 ng mL
1 in the Muztagh Ata and Everest
ice cores, respectively, and 0.97 ± 0.78 ng mL
1 and
Fig. 4. Mean rBC concentrations since 1850 in nine ice cores from Arctic, Europe, and Tibetan Plateau. The periods for ice cores are correspondingly marked near the vertical bars.
6
Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778
0.49 ± 0.51 ng mL
1 during CP correspondingly (Table 1).
As elucidated in previous studies (Jenkins et al., 2016; Wang
et al., 2015), lower rBC concentrations in the Muztagh Ata and
Everest ice cores are partly due to the underestimated nebulization
efficiency and the rBC loss during the storage time of liquid samples
in vials. Additionally, a higher elevation of the drilling site is a po-
tential cause of the lower rBC concentrations in those ice cores.
Previous studies have found lower BC concentrations in snow/firn
in the Tibetan Plateau at higher elevations (Xu et al., 2006; Wang
et al., 2012; Ming et al., 2013). Qian et al. (2015) concluded that
BC concentrations in Tibetan glaciers depend primarily on elevation
and secondarily on regional emission intensities, precipitation, and
snow melting conditions. Accordingly, the higher elevations for the
Muztagh Ata and Everest ice core sites (6350 m and 6520 m a.s.l.,
respectively) than Geladaindong (5750 m a.s.l.) and Hariqin
(5670 m a.s.l.) potentially explain the lower BC concentrations to
some extent.
We also compared rBC concentrations in the Hariqin ice core
with other northern hemisphere ice core records to evaluate the
influence of anthropogenic emissions on BC deposition in the Ti-
betan Plateau. To the best of our knowledge, the rBC ice core studies
spanning back to the 1850s outside the Tibetan Plateau are mainly
within the Arctic region and on high-alpine glaciers in Europe (Jenk
et al., 2006; McConnell et al., 2007, 2010; Sigl et al., 2013, 2018;
Ruppel et al., 2014, 2017; Lim et al., 2017; Osmont et al., 2018;
Zdanowicz et al., 2018). Considering the large measurement un-
certainties associated with different analytical methods (Ruppel
et al., 2014; Lim et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2015; Osmont et al.,
2018), as addressed in Section 3.3, we chose the ice core records
with rBC concentrations measured using the laser-induced incan-
descence method (SP2), which was employed in the present study.
Based on the comparison of post-1850 rBC concentrations, we find
the ice core records from European alpine glaciers generally show
higher rBC concentrations (e.g. 7.30 ± 4.48 ng mL
1 for Mt. Elbrus
and 5.93 ± 3.82 ng mL
1 for Colle Gnifetti, Fig. 4) (Lim et al., 2017;
Sigl et al., 2018). This is reasonable because the drilling sites are
geographically close to anthropogenic BC emissions in Europe,
which is one of the BC emission hotspots (Novakov et al., 2003;
Bond et al., 2007). The emissions in foothill regions can be trans-
ported to the ice core drilling sites, although both European ice
cores were drilled at a high altitude (above 4000 m a.s.l.) (Lugauer
et al., 1998; Lim et al., 2017). The rBC concentrations from the Arctic
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al.
ice cores are lower than those from the European ice cores (for
instance, 3.37 ± 2.59 ng mL
1 from the Greenland ice cap,
2.14 ± 1.97 ng mL
1 from the Lomonosovfonna glacier, and
1.86 ± 2.39 ng mL
1 from the Devon Island ice cap) but higher than
those from the Tibetan ice cores; for instance, 1.26 ± 1.28 ng mL
1 in
the Hariqin ice core (Fig. 4). The rBC concentrations from the Ti-
betan ice cores present minimum values within the Northern
Hemisphere, although the Muztagh Ata, Everest, and Geladaindong
ice cores are not included in the comparison because of the un-
derestimations of the rBC concentrations. This indicates that the
rBC concentration in the Tibetan glaciers remains at a low level in
the Northern Hemisphere, possibly due to the high elevation and
remote location, despite the pronounced impact of anthropogenic
BC deposition on the TP.
4. Conclusions
We report the rBC record over the period 1850e2014 in an ice
core retrieved from a col of the Hariqin glacier in the central Tibetan
Plateau that can be potentially used to reconstruct rBC deposition
over this region. The annual mean rBC concentrations and fluxes
were consistent and relatively low from 1850 to 1950 and have
increased three-fold since then. The magnitude of the rBC increase
agrees well with the Tibetan ice core records reported in previous
studies, showing the growing impact of anthropogenic emissions
on rBC deposition in the TP. According to the atmospheric circula-
tion patterns and comparisons with the time evolution of regional
emissions, emissions in South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East,
and Eastern Europe were found to be key contributors to the rBC
deposited at the Hariqin glacier drilling site. Although the statistical
analysis shows BC in the Tibetan Plateau glaciers at a low level that
might represent the background BC in northern hemisphere gla-
ciers and ice caps, BC in the Tibetan Plateau glaciers show a strong
signature of impact by anthropogenic emissions. We highlight the
increasing influences of BC both on the melting of seasonal snow
and permanent glaciers and on the energy budget of over the
Plateau.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research
Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No.
XDA20070102 and by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China, 41571076 and 41430424. HW and RZ acknowledge support
from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Bio-
logical and Environmental Research as part of the Earth and Envi-
ronmental System Modeling (EESM) program. The Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory is operated for DOE by the Battelle
Memorial Institute under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. We would
like to thank Saehee Lim and Susan Kaspari for sharing the valuable
BC records in the Elbrus and Geladaindong ice cores.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115778.
7
Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778
Supplementary material
Hariqin d18O, b-activity, and rBC concentration corresponding to
ice core depth (Figure S1); time series of rBC emissions, fuel con-
sumption, and rBC record in the Hariqin ice core (Figure S2); and
scatterplots for BC emissions and rBC concentrations from the ice
core measurements (Figure S3).
Credit author statement
Mo Wang: Conceptualization, Visualization, Writing-Original
Draft Baiqing Xu: Conceptualization, Resource, Supervision, Proj-
ect administration, Funding acquisition Hailong Wang: Method-
ology, Writing-Review & Editing, Supervision Rudong Zhang:
Methodology, Software, Validation Yang Yang: Methodology,
Software, Validation Shaopeng Gao: Methodology, Validation
Xiangxiang Tang: Formal analysis, Data Curation Ninglian Wang:
Resource, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.
References
Bisiaux, M.M., Edwards, R., McConnell, J.R., Curran, M.A.J., Van Ommen, T.D.,
Smith, A.M., Neumann, T.A., Pasteris, D.R., Penner, J.E., Taylor, K., 2012. Changes
in black carbon deposition to Antarctica from two high-resolution ice core re-
cords, 1850e2000 AD. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 12, 4107e4115.
Bond, T.C., Bhardwaj, E., Dong, R., Jogani, R., Jung, S., Roden, C., Streets, D.G.,
Trautmann, N.M., 2007. Historical emissions of black and organic carbon aerosol
from energy-related combustion, 1850-2000. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 21,
GB2018.
Bond, T.C., Doherty, S.J., Fahey, D.W., Forster, P.M., Berntsen, T., DeAngelo, B.J.,
€rcher, B., Koch, D., Kinne, S., Kondo, Y., Quinn, P.K.,
Flanner, M.G., Ghan, S., Ka
Sarofim, M.C., Schultz, M.G., Schulz, M., Venkataraman, C., Zhang, H., Zhang, S.,
Bellouin, N., Guttikunda, S.K., Hopke, P.K., Jacobson, M.Z., Kaiser, J.W.,
Klimont, Z., Lohmann, U., Schwarz, J.P., Shindell, D., Storelvmo, T., Warren, S.G.,
Zender, C.S., 2013. Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: a
scientific assessment. J. Geophys. Res. 118, 5380e5552.
Draxler, R.R., Rolph, G.D., 2003. HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Inte-
grated Trajectory) Model. Report, Air Resour. Lab. NOAA, Silver, Spring, MD.
Available online: http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html.
Eichler, A., Tobler, L., Eyrikh, S., Gramlich, G., Malygina, N., Papina, T.,
Schwikowski, M., 2012. Three centuries of eastern European and Altai lead
emissions recorded in a Belukha ice core. Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 4323e4330.
Eichler, A., Tobler, L., Eyrikh, S., Malygina, N., Papina, T., Schwikowski, M., 2014. Ice-
core based assessment of historical anthropogenic heavy metal (Cd, Cu, Sb, Zn)
emissions in the soviet union. Environ. Sci. Technol. 48, 2635e2642.
Gabbi, J., Huss, M., Bauder, A., Cao, F., Schwikowski, M., 2015. The impact of Saharan
dust and black carbon on albedo and long-term mass balance of an Alpine
glacier. Cryosphere 9 (4), 1385e1400.
Gao, S., Xu, B., Wang, M., Li, J., Liu, D., Zhao, D., 2018. Measuring black carbon in
snow and ice in the Tibetan Plateau by single particle soot photometer (in
Chinese with English abstract). J. Glaciol. Geocryol. 40, 690e696.
Gramsch, E., Munoz, A., Langner, J., Morales, L., Soto, C., Pe rez, P., Rubio, M.A., 2020.
Black carbon transport between Santiago de Chile and glaciers in the Andes
Mountains. Atmos. Environ. 232, 117546.
Huang, J., Fu, Q., Zhang, W., Wang, X., Zhang, R., Ye, H., Warren, S.G., 2011. Dust and
black carbon in seasonal snow across northern China. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc.
92, 175e181.
YDE, History database of the global environment. https://themasites.pbl.nl/tridion/
en/themasites/hyde/index.html.
IPCC, 2013. In: Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B.,
Tignor, M., Miller, H.L. (Eds.), Climate Change 2013: the Physical Science Basis,
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, p. 996.
Jacobson, M.Z., 2001. Strong radiative heating due to the mixing state of black
carbon in atmospheric aerosols. Nature 409, 695e697.
Jenk, T.M., Szidat, S., Schwikowski, M., Ga €ggeler, H.W., Brütsch, S., Wacker, L.,
Synal, H.-A., Saurer, M., 2006. Radiocarbon analysis in an Alpine ice core: record
of anthropogenic and biogenic contributions to carbonaceous aerosols in the
past (1650-1940). Atmos. Chem. Phys. 6, 5381e5390.
Jenkins, M., Kaspari, S., Kang, S., Grigholm, B., Mayewski, P.A., 2016. Tibetan Plateau
Geladaindong black carbon ice core record (1843‒1982): recent increases due
to higher emissions and lower snow accumulation. Adv. Clim. Change Res. 7,
132e138.
Joswiak, D.R., Yao, T., Wu, G., Xu, B., Zheng, W., 2010. A 70-yr record of oxygen-18
variability in an ice core from the Tanggula Mountains, central Tibetan
Plateau. Clim. Past. 6, 219e227.
Kang, S., Wang, F., Morgenstern, U., Zhang, Y., Grigholm, B., Kaspari, S.,
M. Wang, B. Xu, H. Wang et al.
Schwikowski, M., Ren, J., Yao, T., Qin, D., Mayewski, P.A., 2015. Dramatic loss of
glacier accumulation area on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by ice core tritium
and mercury records. Cryosphere 9, 1213e1222.
Kang, S., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Grigholm, B., Kaspari, S., Qin, D., Ren, J., Mayewski, P.A.,
2010. Variability of atmospheric dust loading over the central Tibetan Plateau
based on ice core glaciochemistry. Atmos. Environ. 44, 2980e2989.
Kaspari, S.D., Pittenger, D., Jenk, T.M., Morgenstern, U., Schwikowski, M.,
Buenning, N., Stott, L., 2020. Twentieth century black carbon and dust deposi-
tion on south cascade glacier, Washington state, USA, as reconstructed from a
158-m-Long ice core. J. Geophys. Res. 125, e2019JD031126.
Kaspari, S.D., Schwikowski, M., Gysel, M., Flanner, M.G., Kang, S., Hou, S.,
Mayewski, P.A., 2011. Recent increase in black carbon concentrations from a Mt.
Everest ice core spanning 1860-2000 AD. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L04703.
Laborde, M., et al., 2012. Sensitivity of the Single Particle Soot Photometer to
different black carbon types. Atmos. Meas. Tech. 5, 1031e1043.
Lavanchy, V.M.H., G€ aggeler, H.W., Schotterer, U., Schwikowski, M., Baltensperger, U.,
1999. Historical record of carbonaceous particle concentrations from a Euro-
pean high-alpine glacier (Colle Gnifetti, Switzerland). J. Geophys. Res. 104,
21227e21236.
Legrand, M., et al., 2007. Major 20th century changes of carbonaceous aerosol
components (EC, WinOC, DOC, HULIS, carboxylic acids, and cellulose) derived
from Alpine ice cores. J. Geophys. Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008080.
Lim, S., Faïn, X., Ginot, P., Mikhalenko, V., Kutuzov, S., Paris, J.-D., Kozachek, A., Laj, P.,
2017. Black carbon variability since preindustrial times in the eastern part of
Europe reconstructed from Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus, ice cores. Atmos. Chem. Phys.
17, 3489e3505.
Lim, S., Faïn, X., Zanatta, M., Cozic, J., Jaffrezo, J.L., Ginot, P., Laj, P., 2014. Refractory
black carbon mass concentrations in snow and ice: method evaluation and
inter-comparison with elemental carbon measurement. Atmos. Meas. Tech. 7,
3307e3324.
Lugauer, M., Baltensperger, U., Furger, M., Gaggeler, H.W., Jost, D.T.,
Schwikowski, M., Wanner, H., 1998. Aerosol transport to the high Alpine sites
Jungfraujoch (3454ma.s.l.) and Colle Gnifetti (4452 m,a.s.l.). Tellus 50, 76e92.
McConnell, J.R., 2010. New Directions: historical black carbon and other ice core
aerosol records in the Arctic for GCM evaluation. Atmos. Environ. 44,
2665e2666.
McConnell, J.R., Edwards, R., Kok, G.L., Flanner, M.G., Zender, C.S., Saltzman, E.S.,
Banta, J.R., Pasteris, D.R., Carter, M.M., Kahl, J.D., 2007. 20th-century industrial
black carbon emissions altered Arctic climate forcing. Science 317, 1381e1384.
Ming, J., Cachier, H., Xiao, C., Qin, D., Kang, S., Hou, S., Xu, J., 2009. Black Carbon (BC)
in the snow of glaciers in west China and its potential effects on albedos. Atmos.
Res. 92, 114e123.
Ming, J., Xiao, C., Du, Z., Yang, X., 2013. An overview of black carbon deposition in
High Asia glaciers and its impacts on radiation balance. Adv. Water Resour. 55,
80e87.
Novakov, T., Ramanathan, V., Hansen, J.E., Kirchstetter, T.W., Sato, M., Sinton, J.E.,
Sathaye, J.A., 2003. Large historical changes of fossil-fuel black carbon aerosols.
Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 1324.
Osmont, D., Sigl, M., Eichler, A., Jenk, T.M., Schwikowski, M., 2019. A Holocene black
carbon ice-core record of biomass burning in the Amazon Basin from Illimani,
Bolivia. Clim. Past. 15, 579e592.
Osmont, D., Wendl, I.A., Schmidely, L., Sigl, M., Vega, C.P., Isaksson, E.,
Schwikowski, M., 2018. An 800-year high-resolution black carbon ice core re-
cord from Lomonosovfonna. Svalbard. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 18, 12777e12795.
Painter, T.H., Flanner, M.G., Kaser, G., Marzeion, B., VanCuren, R.A., Abdalati, W.,
2013. End of the little ice age in the alps forced by industrial black carbon. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 15216e15221.
Petzold, A., Ogren, J.A., Fiebig, M., Laj, P., Li, S.M., Baltensperger, U., Holzer-Popp, T.,
Kinne, S., Pappalardo, G., Sugimoto, N., Wehrli, C., Wiedensohler, A., Zhang, X.Y.,
2013. Recommendations for reporting "black carbon" measurements. Atmos.
Chem. Phys. 13, 8365e8379.
Qian, Y., Yasunari, T.J., Doherty, S.J., Flanner, M.G., Lau, W.K.M., Ming, J., Wang, H.,
Wang, M., Warren, S.G., Zhang, R., 2015. Light-absorbing particles in snow and
ice: measurement and modeling of climatic and hydrological impact. Adv.
Atmos. Sci. 32, 64e91.
Ramanathan, V., Carmichael, G., 2008. Global and regional climate changes due to
black carbon. Nat. Geosci. 1, 221e227.
Environmental Pollution 273 (2021) 115778
Rowe, P.M., Cordero, R.R., Warren, S.G., Stewart, E., Doherty, S.J., Pankow, A.,
Schrempf, M., Casassa, G., Carrasco, J., Pizarro, J., MacDonell, S., Damiani1, A.,
Lambert, F., Rondanelli1, R., Huneeus, N., Fernandoy, F., Neshyba, S., 2019. Black
carbon and other light absorbing impurities in snow in the Chilean andes. Sci.
Rep. 9, 4008.
Ruppel, M.M., Soares, J., Gallet, J.-C., Isaksson, E., Martma, T., Svensson, J., Kohler, J.,
Pedersen, C.A., Manninen, S., Korhola, A., Stro € m, J., 2017. Do contemporary
(1980e2015) emissions determine the elemental carbon deposition trend at
Holtedahlfonna glacier, Svalbard? Atmos. Chem. Phys. 17, 12779e12795.
Ruppel, M.M., Isaksson, E., Stro €m, J., Beaudon, E., Svensson, J., Pedersen, C.A.,
Korhola, A., 2014. Increase in elemental carbon values between 1970 and 2004
observed in a 300-year ice core from Holtedahlfonna (Svalbard). Atmos. Chem.
Phys. 14, 11447e11460.
Schwarz, J.P., Gao, R.S., Fahey, D.W., Thomson, D.S., Watts, L.A., Wilson, J.C.,
Reeves, J.M., Darbeheshti, M., Baumgardner, D.G., Kok, G.L., 2006. Single-particle
measurements of midlatitude black carbon and light-scattering aerosols from
the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere. J. Geophys. Res. 111 (D16) https://
doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007076.
Sigl, M., Abram, N.J., Gabrieli, J., Jenk, T.M., Osmont, D., Schwikowski, M., 2018. 19th
century glacier retreat in the Alps preceded the emergence of industrial black
carbon deposition on high-alpine glaciers. Cryosphere 12, 3311e3331.
Sigl, M., McConnell, J.R., Layman, L., Maselli, O., McGwire, K., Pasteris, D., Dahl-
Jensen, D., Steffensen, J.P., Vinther, B., Edwards, R., Mulvaney, R., Kipfstuhl, S.,
2013. A new bipolar ice core record of volcanism from WAIS Divide and NEEM
and implications for climate forcing of the last 2000 years. J. Geophys. Res. 118,
1151e1169.
Tian, L., Masson-Delmotte, V., Stievenard, M., Yao, T., Jouzel, J., 2001. Tibetan Plateau
summer monsoon northward extent revealed by measurements of water stable
isotopes. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 28081e28088.
Tian, L., Yao, T., MacClune, K., White, J.W.C., Schilla, A., Vaughn, B., Vachon, R.,
Ichiyanagi, K., 2007. Stable isotopic variations in west China: a consideration of
moisture sources. J. Geophys. Res. 112, D10112.
Wang, H., Rasch, P.J., Easter, R.C., Singh, B., Zhang, R., Ma, P.-L., Qian, Y., Ghan, S.J.,
Beagley, N., 2014. Using an explicit emission tagging method in global modeling
of source-receptor relationships for black carbon in the Arctic: variations,
sources, and transport pathways. J. Geophys. Res. 119, 12e888.
Wang, M., Xu, B., Kaspari, S.D., Gleixner, G., Schwab, V.F., Zhao, H., Wang, H., Yao, P.,
2015. Century-long record of black carbon in an ice core from the Eastern
Pamirs: estimated contributions from biomass burning. Atmos. Environ. 115,
79e88.
Wang, M., Xu, B., Zhao, H., Cao, J., Joswiak, D.R., Wu, G., Lin, S., 2012. The influence of
dust on quantitative measurements of black carbon in ice and snow when using
a thermal optical method. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 46, 60e69.
Wang, X., Chen, M., Gong, P., Wang, C., 2019. Perfluorinated alkyl substances in
snow as an atmospheric tracer for tracking the interactions between westerly
winds and the Indian Monsoon over western China. Environ. Int. 124, 294e301.
Wang, X., Doherty, S.J., Huang, J., 2013. Black carbon and other light-absorbing
impurities in snow across Northern China. J. Geophys. Res. 118, 1471e1492.
Xu, B., Cao, J., Hansen, J.E., Yao, T., Joswia, D.R., Wang, N., Wu, G., Wang, M., Zhao, H.,
Yang, W., 2009. Black soot and the survival of Tibetan glaciers. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. U.S.A. 106, 22114e22118.
Xu, B., Yao, T., Liu, X., Wang, N., 2006. Elemental and organic carbon measurements
with a two-step heating-gas chromatography system in snow samples from the
Tibetan Plateau. Ann. Glaciol. 43, 257e262.
Yao, T., Masson-Delmotte, V., Gao, J., Yu, W., Yang, X., Risi, C., Sturm, C., Werner, M.,
Zhao, H., He, Y., Ren, W., Tian, L., Shi, C., Hou, S., 2013. A review of climatic
controls on d18O in precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau: observations and
simulations. Rev. Geophys. 51, 525e548.
Zdanowicz, C.M., Proemse, B.C., Edwards, R., Feiteng, W., Hogan, C.M., Kinnard, C.,
Fisher, D., 2018. Historical black carbon deposition in the Canadian High Arctic:
a >250-year long ice-core record from Devon Island. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 18,
12345e12361.
Zhang, R., Wang, H., Qian, Y., Rasch, P.J., Easter, R.C., Ma, P.-L., Singh, B., Huang, J.,
Fu, Q., 2015. Quantifying sources, transport, deposition, and radiative forcing of
black carbon over the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 15,
6205e6223.