Chronological characteristics for snow accumulation on Styx Glacier in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Yalalt Nyamgerel, Yeongcheol Han, Songyi Kim, Sang-Bum Hong, Jeonghoon Lee, Soon Do Hur
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2020
• Subjects: Annual layer counting; ionic species; snow accumulation; stable water isotopes; Styx Glacier; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Antarctic; Ross Sea; Victoria Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core; Journal of Glaciology; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2020.53; https://doaj.org/article/3201ab2f67f8457e9b1e4fa2fcb5b061

Under the potential to reconstruct the past climatic and atmospheric conditions from a deep ice core in the coastal Antarctic site (Styx Glacier), an 8.84 m long firn core (73°50.975′ S, 163°41.640′ E; 1623 m a.s.l.) was initially studied to propose a reliable age scale for the local estimation of snow accumulation rate. The seasonal variations of δ18O, methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO42–) were used for the firn core dating and revealed 25 annual peaks (from 1990 to 2014) with volcanic sulfate signal. The observed declining trend in annual accumulation rate with a mean value of 146 ± 60 kg m–2 a–1 is likely to be linked to the changes of sea-ice extent in the Ross Sea region. Moreover, the temporal variation of the annual mean δ18O, an annual flux of MSA and nssSO42– also likely to be under the influence of ice-covered and open water area. This study suggests a potential to recover past changes in an oceanic environment and will be useful for the interpretation of the long ice core drilled at the same site.