Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core
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 f...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:486fa79a8a0f4a1d893bd73c0afb0214 2023-05-15T13:46:34+02:00 Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core H. Fischer J. Severinghaus E. Brook E. Wolff M. Albert O. Alemany R. Arthern C. Bentley D. Blankenship J. Chappellaz T. Creyts D. Dahl-Jensen M. Dinn M. Frezzotti S. Fujita H. Gallee R. Hindmarsh D. Hudspeth G. Jugie K. Kawamura V. Lipenkov H. Miller R. Mulvaney F. Parrenin F. Pattyn C. Ritz J. Schwander D. Steinhage T. van Ommen F. Wilhelms 2013-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2489-2013 https://doaj.org/article/486fa79a8a0f4a1d893bd73c0afb0214 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.clim-past.net/9/2489/2013/cp-9-2489-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 1814-9324 1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-9-2489-2013 https://doaj.org/article/486fa79a8a0f4a1d893bd73c0afb0214 Climate of the Past, Vol 9, Iss 6, Pp 2489-2505 (2013) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2489-2013 2022-12-31T14:57:25Z 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. For example for the geothermal heat flux and accumulation conditions at Dome C, an ice thickness lower than but close to about 2500 m would be required to find 1.5 Myr old ice (i.e., more than 700 m less than at the current EPICA Dome C drill site). Within this constraint, the resolution of an Oldest-Ice record and the distance of such old ice to the bedrock should be maximized to avoid ice flow disturbances, for example, by finding locations with minimum geothermal heat flux. As the geothermal heat flux is largely unknown for the EAIS, this parameter has to be carefully determined beforehand. In addition, detailed bedrock topography and ice flow history has to be reconstructed for candidates of an Oldest-Ice ice coring site. Finally, we argue strongly for rapid access drilling before any full, deep ice coring activity commences to bring datable samples to the surface and to allow an age check of the oldest ice. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica EPICA ice core Ice Sheet Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet Climate of the Past 9 6 2489 2505 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 H. Fischer J. Severinghaus E. Brook E. Wolff M. Albert O. Alemany R. Arthern C. Bentley D. Blankenship J. Chappellaz T. Creyts D. Dahl-Jensen M. Dinn M. Frezzotti S. Fujita H. Gallee R. Hindmarsh D. Hudspeth G. Jugie K. Kawamura V. Lipenkov H. Miller R. Mulvaney F. Parrenin F. Pattyn C. Ritz J. Schwander D. Steinhage T. van Ommen F. Wilhelms Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
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. For example for the geothermal heat flux and accumulation conditions at Dome C, an ice thickness lower than but close to about 2500 m would be required to find 1.5 Myr old ice (i.e., more than 700 m less than at the current EPICA Dome C drill site). Within this constraint, the resolution of an Oldest-Ice record and the distance of such old ice to the bedrock should be maximized to avoid ice flow disturbances, for example, by finding locations with minimum geothermal heat flux. As the geothermal heat flux is largely unknown for the EAIS, this parameter has to be carefully determined beforehand. In addition, detailed bedrock topography and ice flow history has to be reconstructed for candidates of an Oldest-Ice ice coring site. Finally, we argue strongly for rapid access drilling before any full, deep ice coring activity commences to bring datable samples to the surface and to allow an age check of the oldest ice. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
H. Fischer J. Severinghaus E. Brook E. Wolff M. Albert O. Alemany R. Arthern C. Bentley D. Blankenship J. Chappellaz T. Creyts D. Dahl-Jensen M. Dinn M. Frezzotti S. Fujita H. Gallee R. Hindmarsh D. Hudspeth G. Jugie K. Kawamura V. Lipenkov H. Miller R. Mulvaney F. Parrenin F. Pattyn C. Ritz J. Schwander D. Steinhage T. van Ommen F. Wilhelms |
author_facet |
H. Fischer J. Severinghaus E. Brook E. Wolff M. Albert O. Alemany R. Arthern C. Bentley D. Blankenship J. Chappellaz T. Creyts D. Dahl-Jensen M. Dinn M. Frezzotti S. Fujita H. Gallee R. Hindmarsh D. Hudspeth G. Jugie K. Kawamura V. Lipenkov H. Miller R. Mulvaney F. Parrenin F. Pattyn C. Ritz J. Schwander D. Steinhage T. van Ommen F. Wilhelms |
author_sort |
H. Fischer |
title |
Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core |
title_short |
Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core |
title_full |
Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core |
title_fullStr |
Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core |
title_full_unstemmed |
Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core |
title_sort |
where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the ipics "oldest-ice" ice core |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2489-2013 https://doaj.org/article/486fa79a8a0f4a1d893bd73c0afb0214 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica EPICA ice core Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica EPICA ice core Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 9, Iss 6, Pp 2489-2505 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.clim-past.net/9/2489/2013/cp-9-2489-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 1814-9324 1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-9-2489-2013 https://doaj.org/article/486fa79a8a0f4a1d893bd73c0afb0214 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2489-2013 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
9 |
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6 |
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2489 |
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2505 |
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1766244335510093824 |