540 to -48 calendar years before present of mercury concentration data extracted from an ice core at Mount Logan, Yukon, Canada. The dataset is archived by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information under its Paleoclimatology program. The data was published and last updated in 1998.
Use Cases
- Analyze long-term trends in atmospheric mercury deposition by examining mercury concentration values over the 600-year time series.
- Correlate historical mercury pollution events with known volcanic or anthropogenic activity timelines using the calendar years before present (BP) index.
- Model mercury flux or deposition rates by combining concentration data with ice core layer thickness and density estimates.
- Compare pre-industrial and modern mercury levels using the data point from -48 BP (approximately 1998 CE) as a recent benchmark.
Strengths
- Covers a 600-year temporal range from 540 to -48 calendar years BP, providing a multi-century record.
- Sourced from a high-altitude, remote ice core at Mount Logan, likely offering a clean atmospheric signal.
Limitations
- Data recency is limited, with the last update in 1998, missing over 25 years of recent observations.
- Sample size and temporal resolution (e.g., data points per year) are unknown from the provided description.
- Geographic coverage is limited to a single ice core site in the Yukon, Canada.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.
- Collection Method
- Laboratory analysis of mercury concentrations in a drilled ice core.
- Time Range
- 540 to -48 calendar years before present (BP).
- Freshness
- Static dataset last updated in 1998.
- Geography
- Mount Logan, Yukon, Canada.