Seasonal development of ion concentration in a high alpine snow pack

With samples taken from 49 snow pits on a glacier in the Tyrolean Alps the seasonal development of concentration and total deposition of sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride, sodium and calcium was studied. Concentrations are of the order of a few microequivalents per liter in the winter months including March and rise sharply during April. It is shown that this increase is connected to the intensity of atmospheric convection. All ions were eluted from the snow pack at a rapid rate when snow melt set in, leading to June concentrations comparable to those of early winter. With this general background common to all, the behavior of individual ions, notably ammonium and calcium, is discussed