Carbonaceous matter in the atmosphere and glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau: An investigative review

Chaoliu Li; Fangping Yan; Shichang Kang; Caiqing Yan; Zhaofu Hu; Pengfei Chen; Shaopeng Gao; Chao Zhang; Cenlin He; Susan Kaspari; Aron Stubbins

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.106281

Carbonaceous matter in the atmosphere and glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau: An investigative review

Environ Int. 2021 Jan:146:106281. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106281. Epub 2020 Dec 2.

Authors

Chaoliu Li¹, Fangping Yan², Shichang Kang³, Caiqing Yan⁴, Zhaofu Hu⁵, Pengfei Chen⁶, Shaopeng Gao⁷, Chao Zhang⁸, Cenlin He⁹, Susan Kaspari¹⁰, Aron Stubbins¹¹

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: lichaoliu@itpcas.ac.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; UT School of Engineering Science, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland.
³ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁷ CAS Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
⁸ CAS Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁹ Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Geological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA.
¹¹ Departments of Marine and Environmental Science, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

PMID: 33395932
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106281

Abstract

Carbonaceous matter, including organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC), is an important climate forcing agent and contributes to glacier retreat in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau (HTP). The HTP - the so-called "Third Pole" - contains the most extensive glacial area outside of the polar regions. Considerable research on carbonaceous matter in the HTP has been conducted, although this research has been challenging due to the complex terrain and strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity of carbonaceous matter in the HTP. A comprehensive investigation of published atmospheric and snow data for HTP carbonaceous matter concentration, deposition and light absorption is presented, including how these factors vary with time and other parameters. Carbonaceous matter concentrations in the atmosphere and glaciers of the HTP are found to be low. Analysis of water-insoluable organic carbon and BC from snowpits reveals that concentrations of OC and BC in the atmosphere and glacier samples in arid regions of the HTP may be overestimated due to contributions from inorganic carbon in mineral dust. Due to the remote nature of the HTP, carbonaceous matter found in the HTP has generally been transported from outside the HTP (e.g., South Asia), although local HTP emissions may also be important at some sites. This review provides essential data and a synthesis of current thinking for studies on atmospheric transport modeling and radiative forcing of carbonaceous matter in the HTP.

Keywords: Black carbon; Deposition; Light absorption; Local emissions; Organic carbon; Tibetan Plateau.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Aerosols / analysis
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Asia
Atmosphere
Carbon / analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Ice Cover*
Tibet

Substances

Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Carbon