SOOT IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND SNOW SURFACE OF ANTARCTICA

Samples of snow collected near the south pole during January and February 1986 were analyzed for the presence of light-absorbing particles by passing the melted snow through a nuclepore filter. Transmission of light through the filer showed that snow far from the station contains the equivalent of 0.1-0.3 ng of carbon per gram of snow (ng/g). Samples of ambient air were filtered and found to contain about 1-2 ng of carbon per kilogram of air, giving a scavenging ratio of about 150. The snow downwind of the station exhibited a well-defined plume of soot due to the burning of diesel fuel, but even in the center of the plume 1 km downwind, the soot concentration was only 3 ng/g, too small to affect snow albedo significantly. -Authors