Open AccessGlacio‐chemical study spanning the past 2 kyr on three ice cores from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica: 1. Annually resolved accumulation rates
Author(s) -
Sommer S.,
Appenzeller C.,
Röthlisberger R.,
Hutterli M. A.,
Stauffer B.,
Wagenbach D.,
Oerter H.,
Wilhelms F.,
Miller H.,
Mulvaney R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000jd900449
Subject(s) - geology , ice core , snow , firn , deposition (geology) , physical geography , precipitation , climatology , geomorphology , meteorology , geography , sediment
For the first time, annually resolved accumulation rates have been determined in central Antarctica by means of counting seasonal signals of ammonium, calcium, and sodium. All records, obtained from three intermediate depth ice cores from Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, show rather constant accumulation rates throughout the last 9 centuries with mean values of 63, 61, and 44 mm H 2 O yr −1 and a typical year‐to‐year variation of about 30%. For the last few decades, no trend was detected accounting for the high natural variability of all records. A significant weak intersite correlation is apparent only between two cores when the high‐frequency part with periods less than 30 years is removed. By analyzing the records in the frequency domain, no persistent periods were found. This suggests that the snow accumulation in this area is mainly influenced by local deposition patterns and may be additionally masked by redistribution of snow due to wind. By comparing accumulation rates over the last 2 millennia a distinct change in the layer thickness in one of the three cores was found, which might be attributed either to an area upstream of the drilling site with lower accumulation rates, or to deposition processes influenced by surface undulations. The missing of a clear correlation between the accumulation rate histories at the three locations is also important for the interpretation of small, short time variations of past precipitation records obtained from deep ice cores.