Electrical response of the Summit-Greenland ice core to ammonium, sulphuric acid, and hydrochloric acid

Electrical and chemical analysis of the GRIP ice core from Summit in central Greenland confirms that the ECM current is controlled solely by acids in the ice, though there could be different responses for different acids. The dielectric conductivity is dependent on strong acid, on sea salt chloride, and also on ammonium concentrations in the ice. The response to NH4+ is similar to that of sea salt chloride, as they both conduct only at AC frequencies, but NH4+ is approximately twice as conductive per mole. The response to the strong acids shows results consistent with earlier work, with similar responses throughout the length of the core. It seems as if all the thousands of electrical peaks in the GRIP core may be explained by the response to just three chemical species: acidity, ammonium salts, and a third component which is probably chloride.

Details