Tracing the sources of particles in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomolangma

Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic tracer was applied, for the first time, to identifying the sources of the particles in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomalangma (Everest). The results show that the particles in the dirty layers originate mainly from local sources, while the particles in the non-dirty layers are consistent with the features of dust from the arid regions in northwestern India. The HYSPLIT model shows that the air trajectory goes first through northwestern India before reaching the drilling site of ice core when dust storms occur in northwestern India, confirming northwestern India as a possible source of dust in the East Rongbuk ice core.