ALBERT

Description: The isotopic composition of water in ice sheets is extensively used to infer past climate changes. In low-accumulation regions their interpretation is however challenged by poorly constrained effects that may influence the initial isotope signal during and after deposition of the snow. This is reflected in snow-pit isotope data from Kohnen Station, Antarctica, which exhibit a seasonal cycle but also strong inter-annual variations that contradict local temperature observations. These inconsistencies persist even after averaging many profiles and are thus not explained by local stratigraphic noise. Previous studies have suggested that post-depositional processes may significantly influence the isotopic composition of East Antarctic firn. Here, we investigate the importance of post-depositional processes within the open-porous firn (〉 10 cm depth) at Kohnen Station by separating spatial from temporal variability. To this end, we analyse 22 isotope profiles obtained from two snow trenches and examine the temporal isotope modifications by comparing the new with published trench data extracted 2 years earlier. The initial isotope profiles undergo changes over time due to downward-advection, firn diffusion and densification in magnitudes consistent with independent estimates. Beyond that, we find further modifications of the original isotope record to be unlikely, or small in magnitude (〈〈 1 per mil RMSD). These results show that the discrepancy between local temperatures and isotopes most likely originates from spatially coherent processes prior to or during deposition, such as precipitation intermittency or systematic isotope modifications acting on drifting or loose surface snow.

Description: In low-accumulation regions, the reliability of d18O-derived temperature signals from ice cores within the Holocene is unclear, primarily due to the small climate changes relative to the intrinsic noise of the isotopic signal. In order to learn about the representativity of single ice cores and to optimise future ice-core-based climate reconstructions, we studied the stable-water isotope composition of firn at Kohnen station, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Analysing d18O in two 50 m long snow trenches allowed us to create an unprecedented, two-dimensional image characterising the isotopic variations from the centimetre to the hundred-metre scale. This data set includes the complete trench oxygen isotope record together with the meta data used in the study.

Description: The density of firn is an important property for monitoring and modeling the ice sheet as well as to model the pore close-off and thus to interpret ice core-based greenhouse gas records. One feature, which is still in debate, is the potential existence of an annual cycle of firn density in low-accumulation regions. Several studies describe or assume seasonally successive density layers, horizontally evenly distributed, as seen in radar data. On the other hand, high-resolution density measurements on firn cores in Antarctica and Greenland showed no clear seasonal cycle in the top few meters. A major caveat of most existing snow-pit and firn-core based studies is that they represent one vertical profile from a laterally heterogeneous density field. To overcome this, we created an extensive dataset of horizontal and vertical density data at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land on the East Antarctic Plateau. We drilled and analyzed three 90 m long firn cores as well as 160 one meter long vertical profiles from two elongated snow trenches to obtain a two dimensional view of the density variations. The analysis of the 45 m wide and 1 m deep density fields reveals a seasonal cycle in density. However, the seasonality is overprinted by strong stratigraphic noise, making it invisible when analyzing single firn cores. Our density dataset extends the view from the local ice-core perspective to a hundred meter scale and thus supports linking spatially integrating methods such as radar and seismic studies to ice and firn cores.

Description: Stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) were measured on discrete samples using Cavity Ring-Down spectroscopy with an L2120-i and L2130-i by Picarro Instruments. The δ18O concentration with depth is provided with a precision of better than 0.1 per mil. Using raw, un-calibrated dielectrical profiling (DEP) data from the field (NEEM Set-up), volcanic tie points were derived. Together with the smoothed density data and the isotopic composition the record was dated by layer counting. The annual mean values of δ18O were obtained based on this dating.

Description: Stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) were measured on discrete samples using Cavity Ring-Down spectroscopy with an L2120-i and L2130-i by Picarro Instruments. The δ18O concentration with depth is provided with a precision of better than 0.1 per mil. Using raw, un-calibrated dielectrical profiling (DEP) data from the field (NEEM Set-up), volcanic tie points were derived. Together with the smoothed density data and the isotopic composition the record was dated by layer counting. The annual mean values of δ18O were obtained based on this dating.

Description: Stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) were measured on discrete samples using Cavity Ring-Down spectroscopy with an L2120-i and L2130-i by Picarro Instruments. The δ18O concentration with depth is provided with a precision of better than 0.1 per mil. Using raw, un-calibrated dielectrical profiling (DEP) data from the field (NEEM Set-up), volcanic tie points were derived. Together with the smoothed density data and the isotopic composition the record was dated by layer counting. The annual mean values of δ18O were obtained based on this dating.

Description: Using raw, un-calibrated dielectrical profiling (DEP) data from the field (NEEM Set-up), volcanic tie points were derived. Together with the smoothed density data and the isotopic composition the record was dated by layer counting.

Description: Stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) were measured on discrete samples using Cavity Ring-Down spectroscopy with an L2120-i and L2130-i by Picarro Instruments. The δ18O concentration with depth is provided with a precision of better than 0.1 per mil.