Spatio-temporal variability of past accumulation rates inferred from isochronous layers at Dome A, East Antarctica

• Published in: Annals of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Tiantian Wang, Bo Sun, Xueyuan Tang, Xiaoping Pang, Xiangbin Cui, Jingxue Guo, Hui Wang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2016
• Subjects: Dome A; isochrones; past accumulation rate; radio-echo sounding; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; East Antarctica; Annals of Glaciology; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core; Polar Research Institute of China
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2016.28; https://doaj.org/article/8e90cda7a47849cbaa7a127213c2a7af

Studies of palaeo-accumulation rates at Dome A, East Antarctica, are entirely absent. Here, spatio-temporal variations in ice accumulation rates for the past ~161 ka are calculated from isochronous internal layering, traced from radio-echo sounding (RES) data collected by the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) during the 21st CHINARE. The layers are dated by linking them to the site of Vostok ice core along an RES profile, which was flown by the Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) in the Dome Connection East Antarctica (DoCo) project. The Dansgaard-Johnsen model is used to determine the spatial and temporal pattern of ice accumulation in Dome A region. The results show that there is a slight increasing pattern of ice accumulation from south to north along the 216 km radar profile at Dome A. The lowest ice accumulation rates were calculated around the Dome A zone. In the past ~90 ka, there were relatively high accumulation rates during the time period 34–47 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 3) at Dome A.