(Table 1) Stable oxygen isotopic ratios and yearly snow accumulation of firn and ice cores from Svalbard ...

• Main Authors: Beaudon, Emilie, Arppe, Laura, Jonsell, Ulf, Martma, Tõnu, Möller, Marco, Pohjola, Veijo A, Scherer, Dieter, Moore, John C
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2011
• Subjects: Event label; Sample ID; Reference/source; Latitude of event; Longitude of event; Elevation of event; Age, relative, number of years; δ18O, water; δ18O, standard deviation; Interval comments; Accumulation of snow/ice per year; Accumulation rate per year, standard deviation; Ice drill; Isotope ratio mass spectrometry; IPY-4; Ice_core_diverse; Sampling/drilling ice; International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Austfonna; glacier; Ice cap; International Polar Year; IPY; Nordaustlandet; Svalbard; Vestfonna
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.807191; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.807191

We analyse ice cores from Vestfonna ice cap (Nordaustlandet, Svalbard). Oxygen isotopic measurements were made on three firn cores (6.0, 11.0 and 15.5 m deep) from the two highest summits of the glacier located on the SW-NE and NW-SE central ridges. Sub-annual d18O cycles were preserved and could be counted visually in the uppermost parts of the cores, but deeper layers were affected by post-depositional smoothing. A pronounced d18O minimum was found near the bottom of the three cores. We consider candidates for this d18O signal to be a valuable reference horizon since it is also seen elsewhere in Nordaustlandet. We attribute it to isotopically depleted snow precipitation, which NCEP/NCAR reanalysis shows was unusual for Vestfonna, and came from northerly air during the cold winter of 1994/95. Finding the 1994/95 time marker allows establishment of a precise depth/age scale for the three cores. The derived annual accumulation rates indirectly fill a geographical gap in mass balance measurements and thus ... : More information on Austfonna and Vestfonna ice cores can be found in Watanabe et al. (2001) datasets: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.807186. Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...