Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica
The European Beyond EPICA project aims to extract a continuous ice core of up to 1.5 Ma, with a maximum age density of 20 kyr m −1 at Little Dome C (LDC). We present a 1D numerical model which calculates the age of the ice around Dome C. The model inverts for basal conditions and accounts either for...
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ba1c72e86d03407da709e31a70866bc8 2023-09-26T15:10:26+02:00 Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica A. Chung F. Parrenin D. Steinhage R. Mulvaney C. Martín M. G. P. Cavitte D. A. Lilien V. Helm D. Taylor P. Gogineni C. Ritz M. Frezzotti C. O'Neill H. Miller D. Dahl-Jensen O. Eisen 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023 https://doaj.org/article/ba1c72e86d03407da709e31a70866bc8 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/3461/2023/tc-17-3461-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/ba1c72e86d03407da709e31a70866bc8 The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 3461-3483 (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023 2023-08-27T00:36:52Z The European Beyond EPICA project aims to extract a continuous ice core of up to 1.5 Ma, with a maximum age density of 20 kyr m −1 at Little Dome C (LDC). We present a 1D numerical model which calculates the age of the ice around Dome C. The model inverts for basal conditions and accounts either for melting or for a layer of stagnant ice above the bedrock. It is constrained by internal reflecting horizons traced in radargrams and dated using the EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core age profile. We used three different radar datasets ranging from a 10 000 km 2 airborne survey down to 5 km long ground-based radar transects over LDC. We find that stagnant ice exists in many places, including above the LDC relief where the new Beyond EPICA drill site (BELDC) is located. The modelled thickness of this layer of stagnant ice roughly corresponds to the thickness of the basal unit observed in one of the radar surveys and in the autonomous phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder (ApRES) dataset. At BELDC, the modelled stagnant ice thickness is 198±44 m and the modelled oldest age of ice is 1.45±0.16 Ma at a depth of 2494±30 m. This is very similar to all sites situated on the LDC relief, including that of the Million Year Ice Core project being conducted by the Australian Antarctic Division. The model was also applied to radar data in the area 10–15 km north of EDC (North Patch), where we find either a thin layer of stagnant ice (generally <60 m) or a negligible melt rate ( <0.1 mm yr −1 ). The modelled maximum age at North Patch is over 2 Ma in most places, with ice at 1.5 Ma having a resolution of 9–12 kyr m −1 , making it an exciting prospect for a future Oldest Ice drill site. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Australian Antarctic Division EPICA ice core The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Cryosphere 17 8 3461 3483 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 A. Chung F. Parrenin D. Steinhage R. Mulvaney C. Martín M. G. P. Cavitte D. A. Lilien V. Helm D. Taylor P. Gogineni C. Ritz M. Frezzotti C. O'Neill H. Miller D. Dahl-Jensen O. Eisen Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The European Beyond EPICA project aims to extract a continuous ice core of up to 1.5 Ma, with a maximum age density of 20 kyr m −1 at Little Dome C (LDC). We present a 1D numerical model which calculates the age of the ice around Dome C. The model inverts for basal conditions and accounts either for melting or for a layer of stagnant ice above the bedrock. It is constrained by internal reflecting horizons traced in radargrams and dated using the EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core age profile. We used three different radar datasets ranging from a 10 000 km 2 airborne survey down to 5 km long ground-based radar transects over LDC. We find that stagnant ice exists in many places, including above the LDC relief where the new Beyond EPICA drill site (BELDC) is located. The modelled thickness of this layer of stagnant ice roughly corresponds to the thickness of the basal unit observed in one of the radar surveys and in the autonomous phase-sensitive radio-echo sounder (ApRES) dataset. At BELDC, the modelled stagnant ice thickness is 198±44 m and the modelled oldest age of ice is 1.45±0.16 Ma at a depth of 2494±30 m. This is very similar to all sites situated on the LDC relief, including that of the Million Year Ice Core project being conducted by the Australian Antarctic Division. The model was also applied to radar data in the area 10–15 km north of EDC (North Patch), where we find either a thin layer of stagnant ice (generally <60 m) or a negligible melt rate ( <0.1 mm yr −1 ). The modelled maximum age at North Patch is over 2 Ma in most places, with ice at 1.5 Ma having a resolution of 9–12 kyr m −1 , making it an exciting prospect for a future Oldest Ice drill site. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Chung F. Parrenin D. Steinhage R. Mulvaney C. Martín M. G. P. Cavitte D. A. Lilien V. Helm D. Taylor P. Gogineni C. Ritz M. Frezzotti C. O'Neill H. Miller D. Dahl-Jensen O. Eisen |
author_facet |
A. Chung F. Parrenin D. Steinhage R. Mulvaney C. Martín M. G. P. Cavitte D. A. Lilien V. Helm D. Taylor P. Gogineni C. Ritz M. Frezzotti C. O'Neill H. Miller D. Dahl-Jensen O. Eisen |
author_sort |
A. Chung |
title |
Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica |
title_short |
Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica |
title_full |
Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica |
title_sort |
stagnant ice and age modelling in the dome c region, antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023 https://doaj.org/article/ba1c72e86d03407da709e31a70866bc8 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Australian Antarctic Division EPICA ice core The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Australian Antarctic Division EPICA ice core The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 3461-3483 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/3461/2023/tc-17-3461-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/ba1c72e86d03407da709e31a70866bc8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
3461 |
op_container_end_page |
3483 |
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1778144058058735616 |