Regions: Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut
Tags: physical sciences, contaminants, glaciology, metals, ice, snow, organic contaminants, ice cap, deposition
| Principal Investigator: | Gregor, Dennis J. (7) |
| Licence Number: | 12338 |
| Organization: | National Water Research Institute |
| Licensed Year(s): |
1994
1993
|
| Issued: | Jan 01, 1993 |
| Project Team: | R.M. Koerner, J. Nriagu, M. Alaee, A. Peters |
Objective(s): To quantify annual residue trends and historical deposition trends of trace organic contaminants and metals in arctic ice caps; to quantify annual variability of deposition of these compounds as a result of variable atmospheric conditions; to determine the major processes controlling the fate of these contaminants in glaciers that could influence the deposition trend (including re-volitization to the atmosphere, transfer between annual layers by gas transfer, and melt water and photochemical degradation within the snow layers).
Project Description: Ice caps have been used to measure changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere over long periods of time. The studies have addressed climate change, levels of pollutants resulting from human activities, and levels of materials put into the atmosphere by natural processes (e.g., volcano eruptions). This on-going study has been examining the levels of contaminants in ice caps since 1986 by collecting samples of snow and ice at various layers in the ice caps.
