Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core ...

• Main Authors: Pattyn, F., Jugie, G., Hudspeth, D., Chappellaz, J., Gallee, H., Kawamura, K., Lipenkov, V., Dinn, M., Dahl-Jensen, D., Severinghaus, J., Wolff, E., Brook, E., Arthern, R., Wilhelms, F., Fujita, S., Miller, H., Creyts, T., Alemany, O., Steinhage, D., Fischer, Hubertus, Albert, M., Frezzotti, M., Hindmarsh, R., Van Ommen, T., Ritz, C., Schwander, Jakob, Blankenship, D., Mulvaney, R., Bentley, C.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2013
• Subjects: 530 Physics; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; ice core; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.47734; http://boris.unibe.ch/47734/

The recovery of a 1.5 million yr long ice core from Antarctica represents a keystone of our understanding of Quaternary climate, the progression of glaciation over this time period and the role of greenhouse gas cycles in this progression. Here we tackle the question of where such ice may still be found in the Antarctic ice sheet. We can show that such old ice is most likely to exist in the plateau area of the East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS) without stratigraphic disturbance and should be able to be recovered after careful pre-site selection studies. Based on a simple ice and heat flow model and glaciological observations, we conclude that positions in the vicinity of major domes and saddle position on the East Antarctic Plateau will most likely have such old ice in store and represent the best study areas for dedicated reconnaissance studies in the near future. In contrast to previous ice core drill site selections, however, we strongly suggest significantly reduced ice thickness to avoid bottom melting. ...