Characteristics and environmental significance of pH and EC in summer rainfall and shallow firn profile at Yulong Snow Mountain, Lijiang City, China

Abstract

The seasonal and inter-annual variations of pH and EC (electrical conductivity) at Yulong (玉龙) Snow Mountain, Lijiang (丽江) City, are sensitive to precipitation variations and are important indicators of the atmospheric environment. The pH of summer rainfall at Lijiang City ranges from 6.7 to 7.4, and alkaline mineral salts dominate the variations of rainfall acidity. pH values in the shallow firn profile at Baishui (白水) Glacier No. 1 range from 5.6 to 6.3, and EC values from 2.4 to 7.3 μs/cm. The ranges are lower than those in other firn cores from China because of stronger elution and the influence of marine aerosols. This indicates that environmental records from a monsoonal temperate glacier differ from those at continental glaciers.

Keywords

pH / EC / Baishui Glacier No. 1 / Yulong Snow Mountain / Lijiang City

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