Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era
Abstract Anthropogenic NOx emissions have altered the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle since the Industrial Revolution, yet Arctic ice core nitrate (NO3 −) records are inconsistent with post-1970s NOx emission reductions. Here we show a NO3 − deposition history covering 1800–2020 using an ice core from...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59208-0 |
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| author | Yoshinori Iizuka Mai Matsumoto Kaoru Kawakami Mahiro Sasage Sakiko Ishino Shohei Hattori Ryu Uemura Hitoshi Matsui Koji Fujita Naga Oshima Andrea Spolaor Anders Svensson Bo Møllesøe Vinther Hiroshi Ohno Osamu Seki Sumito Matoba |
| author_facet | Yoshinori Iizuka Mai Matsumoto Kaoru Kawakami Mahiro Sasage Sakiko Ishino Shohei Hattori Ryu Uemura Hitoshi Matsui Koji Fujita Naga Oshima Andrea Spolaor Anders Svensson Bo Møllesøe Vinther Hiroshi Ohno Osamu Seki Sumito Matoba |
| author_sort | Yoshinori Iizuka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Anthropogenic NOx emissions have altered the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle since the Industrial Revolution, yet Arctic ice core nitrate (NO3 −) records are inconsistent with post-1970s NOx emission reductions. Here we show a NO3 − deposition history covering 1800–2020 using an ice core from the southeastern Greenland dome with high snow accumulation. The ice core NO3 − concentrations are particularly disconnected from NOx source regions during the peak pollution period and post-1990s. A global chemical transport model reproduced these discordances between total NO3 − and NOx emissions by altering gaseous HNO3 and particulate NO3 − (p-NO3 −) ratios and subsequently NO3 − lifetime. This result and correlations with acidity parameters recorded in the ice core, suggest that acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of NO3 − regulates its transport to Arctic regions alongside changes in NOx emissions. In the future, despite NOx reductions, the increase in proportion of p-NO3 − with longer atmospheric lifetime becomes crucial to control the Arctic NO3 − burden. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-95a8a4bb6d45458f817eb91f4573da2d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-95a8a4bb6d45458f817eb91f4573da2d2025-08-20T02:10:35ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111010.1038/s41467-025-59208-0Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial eraYoshinori Iizuka0Mai Matsumoto1Kaoru Kawakami2Mahiro Sasage3Sakiko Ishino4Shohei Hattori5Ryu Uemura6Hitoshi Matsui7Koji Fujita8Naga Oshima9Andrea Spolaor10Anders Svensson11Bo Møllesøe Vinther12Hiroshi Ohno13Osamu Seki14Sumito Matoba15Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido UniversityGraduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido UniversityInstitute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido UniversityGraduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido UniversityInstitute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa UniversityInternational Center for Isotope Effects Research (ICIER), Nanjing UniversityGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya UniversityGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya UniversityGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya UniversityMeteorological Research InstituteInstitute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council of Italy (ISP-CNR)Center for Ice and Climate, Section for the Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth, Niels Bohr Institute, University of CopenhagenCenter for Ice and Climate, Section for the Physics of Ice, Climate, and Earth, Niels Bohr Institute, University of CopenhagenKitami Institute of TechnologyInstitute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido UniversityInstitute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido UniversityAbstract Anthropogenic NOx emissions have altered the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle since the Industrial Revolution, yet Arctic ice core nitrate (NO3 −) records are inconsistent with post-1970s NOx emission reductions. Here we show a NO3 − deposition history covering 1800–2020 using an ice core from the southeastern Greenland dome with high snow accumulation. The ice core NO3 − concentrations are particularly disconnected from NOx source regions during the peak pollution period and post-1990s. A global chemical transport model reproduced these discordances between total NO3 − and NOx emissions by altering gaseous HNO3 and particulate NO3 − (p-NO3 −) ratios and subsequently NO3 − lifetime. This result and correlations with acidity parameters recorded in the ice core, suggest that acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of NO3 − regulates its transport to Arctic regions alongside changes in NOx emissions. In the future, despite NOx reductions, the increase in proportion of p-NO3 − with longer atmospheric lifetime becomes crucial to control the Arctic NO3 − burden.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59208-0 |
| spellingShingle | Yoshinori Iizuka Mai Matsumoto Kaoru Kawakami Mahiro Sasage Sakiko Ishino Shohei Hattori Ryu Uemura Hitoshi Matsui Koji Fujita Naga Oshima Andrea Spolaor Anders Svensson Bo Møllesøe Vinther Hiroshi Ohno Osamu Seki Sumito Matoba Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era Nature Communications |
| title | Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era |
| title_full | Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era |
| title_fullStr | Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era |
| title_short | Acidity-driven gas-particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to Arctic through the industrial era |
| title_sort | acidity driven gas particle partitioning of nitrate regulates its transport to arctic through the industrial era |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59208-0 |
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