Ultra-high resolution snapshots of three multi-decadal periods in an Antarctic ice core

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: HAINES, SKYLAR A., MAYEWSKI, PAUL A., KURBATOV, ANDREI V., MAASCH, KIRK A., SNEED, SHARON B., SPAULDING, NICOLE E., DIXON, DANIEL A., BOHLEBER, PASCAL D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2016
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Antarctic; Siple; Siple Dome; Antarc*; ice core; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.5; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143016000058

ABSTRACT We offer the first sub-seasonal view of glacial age archives from the Siple Dome-A (SDMA) ice core using the ultra-high resolution capabilities of a newly developed laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS; 121 µm sampling resolution) system capable of conducting multi-element glaciochemical analysis. Our ultra-high resolution data demonstrates that: (1) the SDMA ice core record can be annually dated based on seasonality in chemical inputs at a depth not previously possible using previous glaciochemical sampling methods, (2) winter accumulation at the SD site was greater than summer accumulation during the three late glacial periods selected (~15.3, 17.3, 21.4 Ka ago) in this study and (3) resulting annual layer thicknesses results show greater variability than the current SD ice core depth/age model (Brook and others, 2005), possibly due to depositional effects such as wind scouring and/or decadal variability in snow accumulation that is not captured by the resolution of the current depth/age model.