Mineral dust aerosol in ice cores is one of the most important proxies for paleoclimate research. Under certain conditions, in the deeper part of ice cores, the pristine paleoclimate signal can be altered by in situ formation of dust aggregates, following the relocation of the impurities. Thus, aggregate detection is a critical indication for post-depositional processes. Clues for the presence of aggregates have been provided by anomalously large dust size distributions, while small aggregates were basically invisible to conventional dust analysis techniques. In this paper, we propose an optical approach to this problem based on the single-particle extinction and scattering (SPES) method, which allows researchers to distinguish between compact and non-compact particles through the analysis of samples populated by isometric particles contained in the core samples. This method can potentially be used during continuous flow analyses of ice cores. It allows for the detection of even the tiniest aggregates, falling within the typical size interval of aeolian mineral aerosol. This approach will potentially provide key evidence for assessing the integrity of paleoclimate records.

中文翻译：

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单颗粒消光和散射方法可以检测和表征冰芯中的风沙尘粒聚集体

冰芯中的矿物粉尘气溶胶是古气候研究最重要的代理之一。在某些条件下，在冰芯的更深部分，原始的古气候信号可以通过原位改变杂质迁移后形成粉尘聚集体。因此，聚集检测是沉积后工艺的关键指示。异常大的灰尘尺寸分布提供了存在聚集体的线索，而传统的灰尘分析技术基本上看不见小的聚集体。在本文中，我们提出了一种基于单粒子消光和散射（SPES）方法的光学方法，该方法可让研究人员通过分析由等离子粒子中包含的等距粒子构成的样本来区分紧实粒子和非紧实粒子。核心样本。该方法可潜在地用于冰芯的连续流动分析中。它甚至可以检测最小的聚集体，落在风成矿物气溶胶的典型尺寸区间内。这种方法可能为评估古气候记录的完整性提供关键证据。