Oceanic studies have convincingly demonstrated that there is a link between the Pleistocene ice ages and the variations in the elements of the Earth’s orbit (Imbrie and others 1984). In contrast, the climatic conditions which prevailed over continental areas have been far less well documented and then rarely on a quantitative basis.
In this context, the 2083 m ice core recovered by the Soviet Antarctic Expeditions at Vostok (East Antarctica) is of fundamental importance because it covers fully the last glacial-interglacial cycle, back to the ice age which preceded the last interglacial (∽160 ka B.P.). Potentially it allows access to many climatic and climate-related parameters as illustrated by the oxygen-18 data we have recently published (Lorius and others 1985), from 10Be measurements (Yiou and others 1985, Raisbeck and others 1987), from aerosol concentration (De Angelis and others 1987) and from CO2 measurement (Barnola and others 1988, this volume).
Our first isotopic data set was largely discontinuous over the last 100 ka (only about 7% of the core was analyzed), but continuous beyond that time. Sampling of the ice was completed later, in the field, and we now have continuous deuterium data for the whole core (total ice recovery is about 85%), combining the data of the 2083 m core below 138 m and a complementary data set above. The core chronology was established using a two-dimensional ice-flow model and, for snow accumulation, taking into account change with time (Lorius and others 1985).
There is a general correspondence between this curve and the previously published δ18O record (Lorius and others 1985). However, there is obviously far more information in this continuous δD record, which we will examine from the deduced temperature record.
Climatic Interpretation of a Continuous Deuterium Profile Obtained from the Vostok Ice Core, Antarctica (160 000 Years) (Abstract)