Antarctic Precipitation Chemistry

Several thousand snow samples collected at various Antarctic locations have been analyzed after melting by ion chromatography and acid base titrimetry in order to obtain the chemical composition of past and present Antarctic precipitation. In particular the ionic balance of major impurities has been obtained for many samples. The concept of ionic budget is presented along with the way to calculate it and the various parameters which are involved, with special attention paid to acidity. The calculations are illustrated by results obtained at five selected Antarctic sites (South Pole, Dome C, Vostok, D 57 and James Ross Island), and for various time periods (from the present back to the last glaciation).