Core handling, transportation and processing for the South Pole ice core (SPICEcore) project

• Published in: Annals of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Joseph M. Souney, Mark S. Twickler, Murat Aydin, Eric J. Steig, T. J. Fudge, Leah V. Street, Melinda R. Nicewonger, Emma C. Kahle, Jay A. Johnson, Tanner W. Kuhl, Kimberly A. Casey, John M. Fegyveresi, Richard M. Nunn, Geoffrey M. Hargreaves
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2021
• Subjects: Glaciological instruments and methods; ice and climate; ice core; ice coring; ice engineering; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Antarctic; South Pole; Annals of Glaciology; Antarc*; South pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2020.80; https://doaj.org/article/5285aa0caee44b1db761628a07a5c365

An intermediate-depth (1751 m) ice core was drilled at the South Pole between 2014 and 2016 using the newly designed US Intermediate Depth Drill. The South Pole ice core is the highest-resolution interior East Antarctic ice core record that extends into the glacial period. The methods used at the South Pole to handle and log the drilled ice, the procedures used to safely retrograde the ice back to the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF), and the methods used to process and sample the ice at the NSF-ICF are described. The South Pole ice core exhibited minimal brittle ice, which was likely due to site characteristics and, to a lesser extent, to drill technology and core handling procedures.