Preliminary results of the close-off depth and the stable isotopic records along a 109.91 m ice core from Dome A,Antarctica

A 109.91 m ice core was recovered from Dome A (or Dome Argus), the highest ice feature in Antarctica, during the 2004/05 austral summer by the 21st Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE-21). Both methane profile along the core and firn densification model calculation suggest that the close-off depth is at about 102.0 m with an ice age about 4200 a. Stable isotopes (δ18O and δD) of the chips samples produced during each run of ice core drilling at Dome A, together with those of the other co...     

Temperature and methane records over the last 2 ka in Dasuopu ice core

High resolution δ¹⁸O and methane records over the last 2ka have been reconstructed from Dasuopu ice core recovered from the Himalayas. Analysis shows that the δ¹⁸O record correlates well with the Northern Hemispheric temperature, Dunde ice core record, and with temperature record in eastern China. The warming trend detected in δ¹⁸O record from the last century is similar to that during the Medieval warm period. There is a dramatic increasing in methane concentration in the Dasuopu ice core, which reached 1031 nmol ⋅ mol^-1 in 1997. Moreover, methane concentration in the Dasuopu ice core is about 15%-20% higher than that in Antarctica and Greenland. There is a positive correlation between methane concentration and δ¹⁸O in Dasuopu ice core.     

Evolution of Atlantic-Pacific δC gradients over the last 2.5 m.y.

The evolution of interocean carbon isotopic gradients over the last 2.5 m.y. is examined using high-resolution δ¹³C records from deep sea cores in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Over much of the Northern Hemisphere ice ages, relative reductions in North Atlantic Deep Water production occur during ice maxima. From 2.5 to 1.5 Ma, glacial reductions in NADW are less than those observed in the late Pleistocene. Glacial suppression of NADW intensified after 1.5 Ma, earlier than the transition to larger ice sheets around 0.7 Ma. At a number of times during the Pleistocene, δ¹³C values at DSDP Site 607 in the North Atlantic were indistinguishable from eastern equatorial Pacific δ¹³C values from approximately the same depth (ODP Site 677), indicating significant incursions of low δ¹³C water into the deep North Atlantic. Atlantic/Pacific δ¹³C values converge during glaciations between 1.13-1.05 m.y., 0.83-0.70 m.y., and 0.46-0.43 m.y. This represents a pseudo-periodicity of approximately 300 kyr which cannot easily be ascribed to global ice volume or orbital forcing. This partial decoupling, at low frequencies, of the δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C signals at Site 607 indicates that variations in North Atlantic deep water circulation cannot be viewed simply as a linear response to ice sheet forcing.     

Effects of molecular diffusion on trapped gas composition in polar ice cores

Enrichment of nitrogen gas has been found from gas analyses of ice cores retrieved from deep parts of Antarctica. Neither climate change nor gas loss through ice cracks explain the enrichment. In order to investigate the mechanism of the gas composition change, we develop a model of gas loss caused by molecular diffusion from clathrate hydrates toward the ice-core surface through ice crystal. We apply the model to interpret the data on the gas composition change in the Dome Fuji ice core during the storage for 3 years at 248 K. The mass transfer coefficients determined using the model are 1.4×10⁻⁹ and 4.3×10⁻⁹ m·s⁻¹ at 248 K for N₂ and O₂, respectively. The difference in the coefficient between N₂ and O₂ causes the change in the O₂/N₂ ratio of the trapped gas in the ice core during the storage. During the storage period of 1000 days at 248 K, the O₂/N₂ ratio changes from −9.9‰ to −20.5‰. The effect of the gas loss decreases as the storage temperature decreases. The results have important implications for the accurate reconstructions of the paleo-atmosphere from polar ice cores.     

CO2 measurements on 1-cm3 ice samples with an IR laserspectrometer (IRLS) combined with a new dry extraction device

A new dry gas extraction and analysis method for small (1 cm³) ice samples is presented. The extraction device, cooled to ?20°C, contains two movable steel needle matrices for crushing the ice. During the crushing process the gas escaping from the ice sample is continuously analyzed for CO₂ with an infrared laserspectrometer. This method enables a fast measurement (few minutes) of the CO₂ concentration in the air bubbles with high spatial resolution in the ice core and a minimum potential contamination. An important CO₂ contamination source due to an interaction of water vapour with surfaces is shortly discussed.The reproducibility of extraction and analysis is ±2%. We analyzed CO₂ concentrations in the trapped air from different ice cores originating from the Greenland ice sheet and from Antarctica.     

The nutrient forms,cycling and exchange flux in the sediment and overlying water system in lakes from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River

The 213 m ice core from the Puruogangri Ice Field on the Tibetan Plateau facilitates the study of the regional temperature changes with its δ ¹⁸O record of the past 100 years. Here we combine information from this core with that from the Dasuopu ice core (from the southern Tibetan Plateau), the Guliya ice core (from the northwestern Plateau) and the Dunde ice core (from the north-eastern Plateau) to learn about the regional differences in temperature change across the Tibetan Plateau. The δ ¹⁸O changes vary with region on the Plateau, the variations being especially large between South and North and between East and West. Moreover, these four ice cores present increasing δ ¹⁸O trends, indicating warming on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 100 years. A comparative study of Northern Hemisphere (NH) temperature changes, the δ ¹⁸O-reflected temperature changes on the Plateau, and available meteorological records show consistent trends in overall warming during the past 100 years.     

Deglacial hypsometry of Antarctica

A new and more detailed analysis of the hypsometry of the Antarctic continent, based upon 1° digital data on ice thickness and surface and subglacial elevations, shows that Antarctica, even when deglaciated according to a simple Airy-isostatic model, is an unusual continent. It is the only one with a markedly bimodal hypsometric curve, and separation of the two modes shows that they are the single modes of West Antarctica (at ?450 m a.s.1.) and East Antarctica (at 950 m a.s.1.) respectively; the two parts of the continent are probably distinct tectonic entities. The modal height of East Antarctica is 700 m higher than that of the global ensemble of continents, suggesting that hotspot epeirogeny or a less well-known mechanism has affected its recent history. The age of this modal-height anomaly has important tectonic and especially climatic implications: it is equivalent to a 4–6°C cooling of the continental surface. The area of dry land after deglaciation is 10.5 × 10⁶ km²; the volume of ice in Antarctica is estimated at 26.9 × 10⁶ km³, and of ice in the Northern Hemisphere at 2.5 × 10⁶ km³; these figures lead to a eustatic sea-level equivalent for present-day glacier ice of 68 m or somewhat less.     

High resolution Thex stratigraphy of sediments from high-latitude areas (Norwegian Sea, Fram Strait)

We present data on the average sedimentation rates (ranging from 1.6 cm/kyr to 3 cm/kyr) for the last 300.000 years based on δ¹⁸O analyses of foraminifera in a core from the Norwegian Sea and ²³⁰Th_ex measurements in cores from the Norwegian Sea and the Fram Strait (Arctic Ocean). Furthermore, we relate ²³⁰Th_ex variations downcore to the various oxygen isotope stages. This correlation is tentatively interpreted as being a result of the paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic control of bioproductivity. It is shown that based on the average sedimentation rates and characteristic ²³⁰Th_ex variations carbonate-poor sediment cores from northern latitudes can be correlated.     

Climatic and environmental changes over the last millennium recorded in the Malan ice core from the northern Tibetan Plateau

In this paper, climatic and environmental changes were reconstructed since 1129A.D. based on the Malan ice core from Hol Xil, the northern Tibetan Plateau. The record of δ 18O in the Malan ice core indicated that the warm-season air temperature variations displayed a general increase trend, the 20th-century warming was within the range of natural climate variability, and the warmest century was the 17th century while the warmest decade was the 1610s, over the entire study period. The “Medieval Warm Epoch” and “Little Ice Age” were also reflected by the ice core record. The dust ratio in the Malan ice core is a good proxy for dust event frequency. The 870-year record of the dust ratio showed that dust events occurred much frequently in the 19th century. Comparing the variations of δ 18O and the dust ratio, it is found that there was a strong negative correlation between them on the time scales of 101―102 years. By analyses of all the climatic records of ice cores and tree rings from the northern Tibetan Plateau, it was revealed that dust events were more frequent in the cold and dry periods than in the warm and wet periods.     

Climatic implications of D/H ratios of meteoric water over North America (9500–22,000 B.P.) as inferred from ancient wood cellulose CH hydrogen

δD and δ¹³C values have been measured for the unexchangeable hydrogen and the total carbon of cellulose extracted from 40 North American¹⁴C-dated trees that range in age from 9500 to 22,000 years B.P.Meteoric waters which precipitated over ice-free regions of North America in the interval 14,000–22,000 B.P. had more positive δD values than corresponding modern waters by an average of 19‰. Lower ocean temperatures and smaller temperature gradients than exist at present between ocean and ice-free North America are indicated for the late Wisconsin glacial maximum. This is compatible with warmer winters and cooler summers for this glacial period. The δD value of the North American ice sheet during the Late Wisconsin maximum was approximately ?100‰ as determined from the inferred δD values of the waters of proglacial lakes Agassiz and Whittlesey. From this figure the increase in δ¹⁸O of the oceans during the glacial maximum can be calculated to have been +0.8‰. At the point where they began to move over the ice, air masses supplying moisture to the North American ice sheet contained a little more than 50% of their original moisture content, which is a much greater percentage than exists in air masses supplying the modern Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. This relatively vapor-rich air coupled with lower summer temperatures, which reduced ablation, probably contributed to the maintenance and growth of the ice sheet.The transition from glacial to interglacial conditions on North America was rapid and occurred within a 2000–3000-year interval. However, the transition may not have been synchronous over North America.A 40-year δD record in a spruce branch from the Two Creeks (Wisconsin) forest (～11,800 B.P.) shows large variations which suggest an unusual hydrologic environment in the area of the tree.Cellulose δ¹³C values range between ?20.8 and ?25.9‰, but do not correlate with δD variations for the samples analyzed in this work. Thus, climatic significance of δ¹³C variations cannot be resolved from these data.     

Modelling the regional climate and isotopic composition of Svalbard precipitation using REMOiso: a comparison with available GNIP and ice core data

Simulations of a regional (approx. 50 km resolution) circulation model REMO_iso with embedded stable water isotope module covering the period 1958‐2001 are compared with the two instrumental climate and four isotope series (δ¹⁸O) from western Svalbard. We examine the data from ice cores drilled on Svalbard ice caps in 1997 (Lomonosovfonna, 1250 m asl) and 2005 (Holtedahlfonna, 1150 m asl) and the GNIP series from Ny‐Ålesund and Isfjord Radio. The surface air temperature (SAT) and precipitation data from Longyearbyen and Ny‐Ålesund are used to assess the skill of the model in reproducing the local climate. The model successfully captures the climate variations on the daily to multidecadal times scales although it tends to systematically underestimate the winter SAT. Analysis suggests that REMO_iso performs better at simulating isotope compositions of precipitation in the winter than summer. The simulated and measured Holtedahlfonna δ¹⁸O series agree reasonably well, whereas no significant correlation has been observed between the modelled and measured Lomonosovfonna ice core isotopic series. It is shown that sporadic nature as well as variability in the amount inherent in precipitation process potentially limits the accuracy of the past SAT reconstruction from the ice core data. This effect in the study area is, however, diminished by the role of other factors controlling δ¹⁸O in precipitation, most likely sea ice extent, which is directly related with the SAT anomalies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Can in-situ cosmogenic 14C be used to assess the influence of clast recycling on exposure dating of ice retreat in Antarctica?

Cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating of glacial clasts is becoming a common and robust method for reconstructing the history of glaciers and ice sheets. In Antarctica, however, many samples exhibit cosmogenic nuclide ‘inheritance’ as a result of sediment recycling and exposure to cosmic radiation during previous ice free periods. In-situ cosmogenic ¹⁴C, in combination with longer lived nuclides such as ¹⁰Be, can be used to detect inheritance because the relatively short half-life of ¹⁴C means that in-situ ¹⁴C acquired in exposure during previous interglacials decays away while the sample locality is covered by ice during the subsequent glacial. Measurements of in-situ ¹⁴C in clasts from the last deglaciation of the Framnes Mountains in East Antarctica provide deglaciation ages that are concordant with existing ²⁶Al and ¹⁰Be ages, suggesting that in this area, the younger population of erratics contain limited inheritance.     

On possible relationships between Upper Quaternary glaciations,geomagnetism, and vulcanism

Sea-level changes, representing ice-volume changes during the last 0.25 m.y., now have been well identified from raised coral reefs dated by²³⁰Th/²³⁴U. This detailed record allows hypotheses relating glaciation to magnetism or vulcanism to be tested more accurately than previously. There is strong temporal correlation between 7 transgression-regression cycles and those variations of seasonal radiation which arise from the effects of orbital eccentricity and precession. Similar close correlation does not exist with known records of magnetic intensity and dip, or with vulcanism, identified in deep-sea cores. It is argued that orbital perturbations theoretically are unlikely to affect magnetism or vulcanism, and these also are unlikely to be affected by global isostatic changes associated with changing ice and water loads. However, certain testing is needed, by finer-scale analysis of deep-sea core volcanic records, and by eliminating chronologic vagueness between deep-sea and coral-reef records.     

Constraints on the dynamics of subglacial basalt eruptions from geological and geochemical observations at Kverkfjöll, NE-Iceland

The Kverkfjöll area, NE Iceland is characterised by subglacial basalt pillow lavas erupted under thick ice during the last major glaciation in Iceland. The water contents of slightly vesiculated glassy rims of pillows in six localities range from 0.85±0.03 to 1.04±0.03 wt %. The water content measurements allow the ice thickness to be estimated at between 1.2 and 1.6 km, with the range reflecting the uncertainty in the CO₂ and water contents of the melt. The upper estimates agree with other observations and models that the ice thickness in the centre of Iceland was 1.5–2.0 km at the time of the last glacial maximum. Many of the pillows in the Kverkfjöll area are characterised by vesiculated cores (40–60% vesicles) surrounded by a thick outer zone of moderately vesicular basalt (15–20% vesicles). The core contains ～1 mm diameter spherical vesicles distributed uniformly. This observation suggests a sudden decompression and vesiculation of the still molten core followed by rapid cooling. The cores are attributed to a jökulhlaup in which melt water created by the eruption is suddenly released reducing the environmental pressure. Mass balance and solubility relationships for water allow a pressure decrease to be calculated from the observed change of vesicularity of between 4.4 and 4.7 MPa depressurization equivalent to a drop in the water level in the range 440–470 m. Consideration of the thickness of solid crust around the molten cores at the time of the jökulhlaup indicates an interval of 1–3 days between pillow emplacement and the jökulhlaup. Upper limits for ice melting rates of order 10^?3 m/s are indicated. This interpretation suggests that jökulhlaups can reactivate eruptions.     

Sediment and trace element depositional history from the Ajkwa River estuarine mangroves of Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia

Radiotracer ²¹⁰Pb and contaminant copper were used to estimate sediment accumulation rates in 4 cores from the Ajkwa River estuary and mangrove tidal channels in western Irian Jaya. Mass accumulation rates (4.5–13 kg dry wt m⁻² yr⁻¹) were within the envelope of expectations for a region of high rainfall, great river catchment relief, and rapid tectonic uplift of mountains. Copper accumulation rates were enhanced 40 fold in surface sediments, compared to pre-1950 sections of the sediment cores. These recent sediments with enhanced copper concentrations come from Freeport Indonesia mine tailings over the last 27 years. Variations in sediment core profiles of Al, Fe, and organic carbon were small, indicating no great change in bulk sediment composition. Sulfur concentrations decline toward the sediment surface, suggesting a decline in rates of microbial sulfate reduction. Enhanced sediment copper concentrations will be a useful tracer of sediment dispersal from the Ajkwa River estuary along this coast.     

Climatic variations in the past 140 ka recorded in core RM, east Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

The sequences of climatic evolution are reconstructed by the analyses of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of carbonate from core RM in the Zoige Basin since 140 kaB. P. During the Last Glaciation there existed at least seven warm climatic fluctuations and five cold events correlated with the records of ice core and deep sea, and during the preceding last interglacial period there were two cold climatic variations coinciding with the record of ice core GRIP. These results de-pict climatic instability in east Qinghai-Xizang Plateau over the last interglacial period. In addition, the environmental proxies of the carbonate content and pigments indicate the similar results to the stable isotope record from core RM. Project supported by the Chinese Climbing Project (85-029-02-01).     

Single-grain and multigrain luminescence dating of on-ice and lake-bottom deposits at Lake Hoare,Taylor Valley,Antarctica

The large radiocarbon (¹⁴C) reservoir effect in Antarctica varies regionally and with settings. Luminescence sediment dating has potential as an alternate geochronometer. Extending our earlier tests of the effectiveness of resetting of photon-stimulated-luminescence (PSL) that employed only multi-aliquot analyses of fine-silt grains, we applied single-aliquot multigrain, and single-grain-quartz (SGQ) PSL procedures to a variety of samples from on and under the meters-thick perennial ice cover at Lake Hoare. These procedures yielded quartz sand age estimates for ice-surface sand (the source of the lake-bottom sand) of 10–80 a. Sand within a small dune on the perennial lake ice in front of Canada Glacier gave an SGQ age estimate of 48 ± 23 a. These methods produced realistic age estimates in lake-bottom short cores that are at least 5–20 times younger than comparable (uncorrected-for-reservoir) ¹⁴C results. Near-core-top PSL age estimates ranged from zero to ～500 a, depending on the core site. Four of the 7 short cores revealed clear linear age-depth trends for the upper few cm of core. These results demonstrate that for such lake-core deposits, single-aliquot and single-grain PSL dating can replace ¹⁴C dating, at least in Lake Hoare, because PSL dating lacks a significant ‘zero-point’ offset such as the ¹⁴C reservoir effect, and because PSL dating of quartz is applicable to samples as old as ～150 ka under normal sedimentary conditions. Moreover, these results imply that isolated paleo-lake-bottom deposits (e.g., microbial-mat sand mounds above present lake levels) throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys can now be dated directly.     

Climates of the Earth and Cryosphere Evolution

The interrelationship between the cryosphere and the climate is not always operating on Earth over a scale of billions or millions of years. Indeed, most of the time, the Earth is regulated at temperatures such that no ice sheet exists. Nevertheless, it is very fruitful to understand the conditions where and when ice sheets were triggered during the Earth??s history. This paper deals with the paleoclimate and the cryosphere in the last 4.6 Ga and explains the different processes that make the climate of the first 4 billion years warm despite the weaker solar luminosity. We also describe the more recent evolution in the last 65 million years when a global decrease in atmospheric CO₂ from around 4 PAL to 1 PAL was associated with a global cooling (1 PAL present atmospheric level = 280 ppm). It is in this context that the Quaternary occurred characterized by low atmospheric CO₂ and the presence of two perennial ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. The last million years are certainly the most documented since direct and reliable CO₂ measurements are available. They are characterized by a complex climate/cryosphere dynamics leading to oscillations between long glacial periods with four ice sheets and shorter ones with only two ice sheets (interglacial). We are currently living in one of those interglacials, generally associated with a CO₂ level of 280 ppm. Presently, anthropogenic activities are seriously perturbing the carbon cycle and the atmospheric CO₂ content and therefore the climate. The last but not least question raised in this paper is to investigate whether the anthropogenic perturbation may lead to a melting of the ice sheets.     

Clinoform mechanics in the Gulf of Papua, New Guinea

The largest islands of the Indo-Pacific Archipelago are estimated to account for 20–25% of the global sediment discharge to the ocean, and much (>50%) of this sediment is supplied to wide (>150 km) continental shelves. These conditions are conducive to creation of large-scale morphologic features known as clinoforms—sigmoidal-shaped deposits on the continental shelf. The Gulf of Papua (GOP) receives 3.84 ×10⁸ tons of sediment annually from three principal sediment suppliers, the Fly, Kikori and Purari Rivers, and its prograding clinoform is the focus of this study. During three research cruises, 80 cores and 37 CTD/optical backscatter casts were collected, and an instrumented tripod was deployed twice. Sedimentological and radiochemical results indicate that the GOP clinoform has characteristics similar to those seaward of other major rivers (e.g., Amazon, Ganges–Brahmaputra), specifically sand/mud interbedding on the topset, rapidly accumulating muds on the foreset, and siliciclastic mud mixed with carbonate sand on the bottomset.Using core data and field observations, the mechanics of clinoform progradation are examined. Discrete, large sedimentation events are identified as processes building the clinoform feature. X-radiographs from foreset cores reveal thick beds (>5 cm) between bioturbated sections. Detailed ²¹⁰Pb and grain-size data indicate that low activities and increased clay contents are associated with these beds. They are hypothesized to be formed by fluid–mud deposition in response to periods of large wave-tide bed shear stresses, more likely during the SE-tradewind season, and their regular occurrence produces high rates of mean accumulation (4 cm/y). Bed preservation is determined by the rates of sediment accumulation and bioturbation.To assess the influence of physical oceanographic factors on clinoform shape, bottom shear stresses from tides and surface waves were calculated using available wave and tripod data. This effort reveals that the depth range (25–40 m) of the clinoform rollover point (seaward edge of the topset region) is roughly consistent with the sediment-transport regime. Furthermore, calculations corroborate the core data that suggest possible seasonal sediment storage in the inner topset region (<15-m water depth, during the NW-monsoon winds) with subsequent transfer to foreset beds (more probable during SE-tradewind conditions).A 100-yr sediment budget created with accumulation rate data suggests approximately 20% of the total sediment supplied to the GOP accumulates on the clinoform (creating the clinoform morphology). Less than 5% is believed to escape to the adjacent slope, and much of the remaining 75% is likely trapped on the inner-topset region (<20 m water depth) and within the mangrove forests and flood/delta plains of the northern GOP.