High-resolution aerosol concentration data from the Greenland NorthGRIP and NEEM deep ice cores

Records of chemical impurities from ice cores enable us to reconstruct the past deposition of aerosols onto polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Through this they allow us to gain insight into changes of the source, transport and deposition processes that ultimately determine the deposition flux at the coring location. However, the low concentrations of the aerosol species in the ice and the resulting high risk of contamination pose a formidable analytical challenge, especially if long, continuous and highly resolved records are needed. Continuous flow analysis, CFA, the continuous melting, decontamination and analysis of ice-core samples has mostly overcome this issue and has quickly become the de facto standard to obtain high-resolution aerosol records from ice cores after its inception at the University of Bern in the mid-1990s. Here, we present continuous records of calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3-) and electrolytic conductivity at 1 mm depth resolution from the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project) and NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling) ice cores produced by the Bern Continuous Flow Analysis group in the years 2000 to 2011 . Both of the records were previously used in a number of studies but were never published in full 1 mm resolution. Alongside the 1 mm datasets we provide decadal averages, a detailed description of the methods, relevant references, an assessment of the quality of the data and its usable resolution. Along the way we will also give some historical context on the development of the Bern CFA system. The data is available in full 1 mm and 10-year-averaged resolution on PANGAEA (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.935838, )

Automated summary

Chemical impurity records from ice cores are important for understanding past aerosol deposition on polar ice sheets and glaciers. Continuous flow analysis (CFA) has become the standard method for obtaining high-resolution aerosol records from ice cores. In this study, the authors present continuous records of various chemical species from ice cores collected in Greenland and provide additional data and information for a better understanding of the quality and resolution of the records.