Chronological characteristics for snow accumulation on Styx Glacier in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Nyamgerel, Yalalt, Han, Yeongcheol, Kim, Songyi, Hong, Sang-Bum, Lee, Jeonghoon, Hur, Soon Do
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2020
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; ice core; Journal of Glaciology; Ross Sea; Sea ice; Victoria Land
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.53; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143020000532

Abstract Under the potential to reconstruct the past climatic and atmospheric conditions from a deep ice core in the coastal Antarctic site (Styx Glacier), an 8.84 m long firn core (73°50.975′ S, 163°41.640′ E; 1623 m a.s.l.) was initially studied to propose a reliable age scale for the local estimation of snow accumulation rate. The seasonal variations of δ 18 O, methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO 4 2– ) were used for the firn core dating and revealed 25 annual peaks (from 1990 to 2014) with volcanic sulfate signal. The observed declining trend in annual accumulation rate with a mean value of 146 ± 60 kg m –2 a –1 is likely to be linked to the changes of sea-ice extent in the Ross Sea region. Moreover, the temporal variation of the annual mean δ 18 O, an annual flux of MSA and nssSO 4 2– also likely to be under the influence of ice-covered and open water area. This study suggests a potential to recover past changes in an oceanic environment and will be useful for the interpretation of the long ice core drilled at the same site.