High Ozone Isotope Anomaly at Mt. Everest Linked to Stratospheric Ozone Intrusion
Abstract
Atmospheric O₃ possesses a rare isotopic signal, that is, Δ¹⁷O(O₃), varying with pressure and temperature, providing a potential tracer to explore stratosphere‐to‐troposphere transport (STT) of O₃ that plays a vital role in atmospheric chemistry and climate. However, it has been proposed that the higher stratospheric Δ¹⁷O(O₃) can't be preserved en‐route to the troposphere given the rapidly re‐established isotopic equilibrium by photochemistry. Here, we reported Δ¹⁷O(O₃) data mainly from the Tibetan Plateau, and found the relatively high Δ¹⁷O(O3) at Mt. Everest can't be explained by in situ photochemistry. Instead, the distinct diurnal cycle with elevated nighttime value at Mt. Everest is associated with the katabatic wind bringing stratosphere‐sourced O₃ with high Δ¹⁷O. This demonstrates that the high Δ¹⁷O(O₃) can be preserved at troposphere at some circumstances. Given the fast transfer of Δ¹⁷O(O₃) to atmospheric nitrate, it might be potential to probe past STT of O₃ using nearby ice core records of nitrate.
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BibTeX
@article{wu2026high,
title = {{High Ozone Isotope Anomaly at Mt. Everest Linked to Stratospheric Ozone Intrusion}},
author = {Yichao Wu and Zhongyi Zhang and Zhuang Jiang and Shichang Kang and Joel Savarino and Chunxiang Ye and Pengfei Chen and Weili Lin and Chong Zhang and Lei Geng},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1029/2025gl121239},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05788806v1},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - High Ozone Isotope Anomaly at Mt. Everest Linked to Stratospheric Ozone Intrusion
AU - Yichao Wu
AU - Zhongyi Zhang
AU - Zhuang Jiang
AU - Shichang Kang
AU - Joel Savarino
AU - Chunxiang Ye
AU - Pengfei Chen
AU - Weili Lin
AU - Chong Zhang
AU - Lei Geng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
DO - 10.1029/2025gl121239
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05788806v1
AB - Atmospheric O₃ possesses a rare isotopic signal, that is, Δ¹⁷O(O₃), varying with pressure and temperature, providing a potential tracer to explore stratosphere‐to‐troposphere transport (STT) of O₃ that plays a vital role in atmospheric chemistry and climate. However, it has been proposed that the higher stratospheric Δ¹⁷O(O₃) can't be preserved en‐route to the troposphere given the rapidly re‐established isotopic equilibrium by photochemistry. Here, we reported Δ¹⁷O(O₃) data mainly from the Tibetan Plateau, and found the relatively high Δ¹⁷O(O3) at Mt. Everest can't be explained by in situ photochemistry. Instead, the distinct diurnal cycle with elevated nighttime value at Mt. Everest is associated with the katabatic wind bringing stratosphere‐sourced O₃ with high Δ¹⁷O. This demonstrates that the high Δ¹⁷O(O₃) can be preserved at troposphere at some circumstances. Given the fast transfer of Δ¹⁷O(O₃) to atmospheric nitrate, it might be potential to probe past STT of O₃ using nearby ice core records of nitrate.
SN - 0094-8276
SN - 1944-8007
ER -