Seasonal Variations of Chemical Constituents in Annual Layers of Greenland Deep Ice Deposits.

• Main Authors: Langway,C. C. , Jr., Cragin,James H., Klouda,G. A., Herron,M. M.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: Physical Chemistry; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; *LAND ICE; *GREENLAND; MAGNESIUM; CALCIUM; LAYERS; SODIUM; DEPOSITS; SEASONAL VARIATIONS; ALUMINUM; GEOLOGIC AGE DETERMINATION; CONCENTRATION(CHEMISTRY); POTASSIUM; SPRING SEASON; DEEP DEPTH; CORE SAMPLING; AUTUMN; Greenland; Dye 3; Dye-3; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA021319; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA021319

Chemical analysis of century-old ice from continuous 5 to 7 year intervals of three ice cores from south and central Greenland (Dye 3, Milcent and Crete) show maximum concentrations of Na, Mg, Ca, K and Al during early spring and minimum concentrations during late summer and early fall. Peak spring values are as much as 10 times greater than fall values. Because of the large seasonal chemical variations, samples used for depth-age or annual deposition rate studies must represent accumulation from exactly one year or whole multiples of a year. The seasonal chemical variations seem promising as a new method of defining annual layers and thus dating old ice cores. (Author)