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: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 1965
• Subjects: South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/51498/; https://authors.library.caltech.edu/51498/1/jgr4548.pdf; https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141110-103021050

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).