Stable accumulation patterns around Dome C, East Antarctica, over the last glacial cycle

• Main Authors: Donald D. Blankenship, Catherine Ritz, Jason L. Roberts, Massimo Frezzotti, Frédéric Parrenin, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Duncan A. Young
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: NEANIAS Atmospheric Research Community; Antarc*; Antarctica; East Antarctica
• Online Access: https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/131705; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2017-71

Abstract. We reconstruct the pattern of surface accumulation in the region around Dome C, East Antarctica, through the last glacial cycle. We use a set of internal isochrones interpreted from various ice-penetrating radar surveys and a 1D pseudo-steady ice flow model to invert for both time-averaged accumulation rates and paleoaccumulation rates between isochrone pairs. We observe that the surface accumulation pattern is stable through the last 128 kyrs, both the large-scale (100s km) gradients which reflect current modeled and observed precipitation gradients in the region, as well as the small-scale (10s km) accumulation variations linked to snow redistribution at the surface due to changes in its slope and curvature in the prevailing wind direction. This suggests a stable position of the dome throughout the last glacial cycle.