• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Dome The; Frontier Mountain; Talos Dome; The Antarctic; Victoria Land; Antarc*; ice core; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.512.3611; http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1047/ea/of2007-1047ea128.pdf

Summary Englacial tephra are chronostratigraphic markers of the Antarctic ice sheet. Structural, mineralogical, geochemical and geochronological data on selected samples allowed the reconstruction of a chronostratigraphic framework for the Frontier Mountain blue ice field – an important meteorite trap on the southeastern flank of Talos Dome in Victoria Land. The stratigraphic thickness of the ice succession is ~1150 m. The 40Ar-39Ar age of one layer close to the stratigraphic bottom is 100±5 ka and constrains the maximum age of the bulk of Frontier Mountain blue ice. This work lays the foundations for a detailed investigation of ~100 ka of explosive volcanism in Victoria Land. Furthermore, in light of the ongoing ice core drilling project at Talos Dome, the Frontier Mountain ice succession may become important for establishing regional correlations, for sampling and dating key tephra layers, and for selecting ice successions for high-resolution studies of past atmospheric chemistry and fall out.