Electroconductivity of fallen and drifting snow at Syowa Station, Antarctica

Abstract

Samples of fallen snow, drifting snow and deposited snow were obtained at Syowa Station from April 2003 to October 2006. Electroconductivity of the meltwater was measured. The electroconductivities of the samples for the fallen snow under weak wind condition were mostly below several tens of μS cm, whereas much higher values were obtained for the drifting snow samples under strong wind condition with seasonal variation: maximum (several hundred to thousands) in April to July, then decreasing to a few hundred after September. Higher electro conductivities of the drifting snow samples correlated well with breakup of sea ice windward of Syowa Station. Lower values were obtained after snow accumulated on sea ice at Kita-no-ura, windward bay area north-east and offshore of Syowa Station. These suggest that brine from sea ice changes the electroconductivity of drifting snow.