Stratigraphic noise and its potential drivers across the plateau of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica

• Main Authors: Hirsch, Nora, Zuhr, Alexandra, Münch, Thomas, Hörhold, Maria, Freitag, Johannes, Dallmayr, Remi, Laepple, Thomas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2023
• Subjects: article; Verlagsveröffentlichung; Antarctic; Dronning Maud Land; East Antarctica; Sastrugi; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1392; https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00064263; https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/egusphere-2022-1392/egusphere-2022-1392.pdf

Stable water isotopologues of snow, firn, and ice cores provide valuable information on past climate variations. Yet, stratigraphic noise, introduced by the irregular deposition, wind driven erosion and redistribution of snow, impacts the utility of high resolution isotope records, especially in low accumulation areas. However, it is currently unknown how stratigraphic noise differs across the East Antarctic Plateau and how it is affected by local environmental conditions. Here, we assess the amount and structure of stratigraphic noise at seven sites along a 120 km transect on the plateau of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Replicated oxygen isotope records of 1 m length were used to estimate signal to noise ratios as a measure of stratigraphic noise, while accumulation rates (43–64 mm w.eq. a-1), snow surface roughness and slope inclinations gave insights on the local environmental settings. While we found a high amount of stratigraphic noise at all sites, there was also a considerable amount of spatial variability. At sastrugi dominated sites, higher stratigraphic noise coincided with higher surface roughness, steeper slopes, and lower accumulation rates, probably related to increased wind speeds. These results provide a first step to modelling stratigraphic noise and guide future exhibitions in adjusting their sampling strategies to maximise the usage of high resolution isotope records from low accumulation regions.