Surface mass balance and stable oxygen isotope ratios from shallow firn cores on Fimbulisen, East Antarctica

Source at https://doi.org/10.3189/2012AoG60A102 . The mass balance of Antarctica is one of the crucial factors for determining sea-level change in a warming climate. The marginal zones of the continent, namely the ice shelves, are most sensitive to climate change. During the 2009/10 austral summer a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of Glaciology
Main Authors: Schlosser, E, Anschütz, Helgard, Isaksson, E., Martma, T, Divine, Dmitry V, Nøst, O.-A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2012
Subjects:
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450::Quaternary geology
glaciology: 465
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450::Kvartærgeologi
glasiologi: 465
Austral
East Antarctica
Fimbulisen
Neumayer
Neumayer Station
Annals of Glaciology
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Shelf
Ice Shelves
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/16740
https://doi.org/10.3189/2012AoG60A102
Description
Summary:Source at https://doi.org/10.3189/2012AoG60A102 . The mass balance of Antarctica is one of the crucial factors for determining sea-level change in a warming climate. The marginal zones of the continent, namely the ice shelves, are most sensitive to climate change. During the 2009/10 austral summer an extensive glaciological field campaign was carried out on Fimbulisen, an ice shelf in East Antarctica, to investigate its recent surface mass balance. Shallow (10–18 m) firn cores were drilled and accumulation rates and stable-isotope ratios determined. For firn-core dating, two different methods were compared: (1) seasonal variations of stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ 18 O), and (2) dielectric profiling, including using the volcanic eruptions of Pinatubo, Philippines (1991), and El Chichόn, Mexico (1982), as time markers. The mean annual accumulation for the period 1992–2009 ranges from 298 to 349 mmw.e. a –1 . The interannual variability at the drilling sites is >30%. Accumulation rates show a weak decreasing trend during the past 20–30 years, which is statistically significant only for one of the cores. Stable-isotope ratios were compared to the snowfall temperature of Neumayer station. Neither the temperatures nor the δ 18 O values show any trend for the investigated time period.

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