The Cryosphere www.the-cryosphere.net 1994-0416 1994-0424 3 2 2009 10.5194/tc-3-147-2009 http://www.the-cryosphere.net/3/147/2009/ http://www.the-cryosphere.net/3/147/2009/tc-3-147-2009.html http://www.the-cryosphere.net/3/147/2009/tc-3-147-2009.pdf 147 154 2009-07-02 Frost flower chemical signature in winter snow on Vestfonna ice cap, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard E. Beaudon ebeaudon@ulapland.fi J. Moore Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland Thule Institute, University of Oulu, Finland College of Global Change and Earth System Science Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou Wai Street, Beijing, 100875 China The chemistry of snow and ice cores from Svalbard is influenced by variations in local sea ice margin and distance to open water. Snow pits sampled at two summits of Vestfonna ice cap (Nordaustlandet, Svalbard), exhibit spatially heterogeneous soluble ions concentrations despite similar accumulation rates, reflecting the importance of small-scale weather patterns on this island ice cap. The snow pack on the western summit shows higher average values of marine ions and a winter snow layer that is relatively depleted in sulphate. One part of the winter snow pack exhibits a [SO₄^2-/Na⁺] ratio reduced by two thirds compared with its ratio in sea water. This low sulphate content in winter snow is interpreted as the signature of frost flowers, which are formed on young sea ice when offshore winds predominate. Frost flowers have been described as the dominant source of sea salt to aerosol and precipitation in ice cores in coastal Antarctica but this is the first time their chemical signal has been described in the Arctic. 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