Six-year record of oxygen and hydrogen isotope variations in South Pole firn

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research
• Main Authors: Epstein, Samuel, Sharp, Robert P., Gow, Anthony J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Geophysical Union 1965
• Subjects: South Pole; Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory; South pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ070i008p01809

Direct measurements of snow accumulation at stakes near the South Pole over a 6-year period (1958–1963) provide an unusual opportunity to check the reliability of accumulation and annual-layer determinations by stratigraphic and isotopic methods. The results are gratifying. Agreement between interpretations based on stratigraphic and isotopic data is excellent, and both are consistent with accumulation-stake measurements in nearly all respects. All three procedures indicate an average annual accumulation of 7 cm of water at the South Pole over the 1958–1963 interval. Isotope data suggest that depth-hoar formation may result in relative enrichment in O^(18). This could come about through partial recondensation of vapor generated within the depth-hoar layer accompanied by escape of residual vapor impoverished in O^(18). Copyright 1965 by the American Geophysical Union. (Manuscript received January 4, 1965.) Gow's participation was made possible by the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. This investigation was supported by National Science Foundation under grant GA-98. Publication 1298, Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology. Published - jgr4548.pdf