Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 7 5 2007 10.5194/acpd-7-14413-2007 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/14413/2007/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/14413/2007/acpd-7-14413-2007.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/14413/2007/acpd-7-14413-2007.pdf 14413 14432 2007-10-10 Black carbon record based on a shallow Himalayan ice core and its climatic implications J. Ming mingjing@mail.iggcas.ac.cn H. Cachier C. Xiao D. Qin S. Kang S. Hou J. Xu Institute of Climate System, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081 China State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China Laboratoire des Sciences du climat et de l'Environnement, Gif-sur-Yvette 91198, France Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China A continuous measurement for black carbon conducted on a shallow ice core extracted from the East Rongbuk glacier beside Mt. Qomolangma recovers the first historical record of black carbon 13 deposition in the past ~50 years in the high Asian cryosphere. Fast increasing trend of BC concentration is revealed since the mid-1990s. Backward air trajectory analysis indicates that South Asia's emission has significant impacts on the BC deposition in the East Rongbuk glacier. The estimated atmospheric BC concentration over the East Rongbuk glacier is about 80 ngC m^−3. 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