scholarly journals Improved method to determine radio-echo sounding reflector depths from ice-core profiles of permittivity and conductivity

2006 ◽  
Vol 52 (177) ◽  
pp. 299-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf Eisen ◽  
Frank Wilhelms ◽  
Daniel Steinhage ◽  
Jakob Schwander
Keyword(s):  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Wave Speed ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Clear Identification ◽  
Cross Correlations ◽  
Echo Sounding

AbstractWe present a technique that modifies and extends down-hole target methods to provide absolute measures of uncertainty in radar-reflector depth of origin. We use ice-core profiles to model wave propagation and reflection, and then cross-correlate the model results with radio-echo sounding (RES) data to identify the depth of reflector events. Stacked traces recorded with RES near the EPICA drill site in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, provide reference radargrams, and dielectric properties along the deep ice core form the input data to a forward model of wave propagation that produces synthetic radargrams. Cross-correlations between synthetic and RES radargrams identify differences in propagation wave speed. They are attributed to uncertainties in pure-ice permittivity and are used for calibration. Removing conductivity peaks results in the disappearance of related synthetic reflections and enables the unambiguous relation of electric signatures to RES features. We find that (i) density measurements with g-attenuation or dielectric profiling are too noisy below the firn–ice transition to allow clear identification of reflections, (ii) single conductivity peaks less than 0.5 m wide cause the majority of prominent reflections beyond a travel time of about 10 µs (~900m depth) and (iii) some closely spaced conductivity peaks within a range of 1–2m cannot be resolved within the RES or synthetic data. Our results provide a depth accuracy to allow synchronization of age–depth profiles of ice cores by RES, modeling of isochronous internal structures, and determination of wave speed and of pure-ice properties. The technique successfully operates with dielectric profiling and electrical conductivity measurements, suggesting that it can be applied at other ice cores and drill sites.

scholarly journals Bottom Topography and Internal Layers in East Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, from 179 MHz Radio Echo-Sounding

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 221-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minoru Yoshida ◽  
Kazunobu Yamashita ◽  
Shinji Mae
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Flow Line ◽  
Bottom Topography ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Field Season ◽  
Echo Sounding

Extensive echo-sounding was carried out in east Dronning Maud Land during the 1984 field season. A 179 MHz radar with separate transmitting and receiving antennae was used and the echoes were recorded by a digital system to detect minute reflections. The results gave cross-sections of the ice sheet along traverse routes from lat. 69 °S. to 75°S, Detailed observations on the ground at Mizuho station showed that there was elliptical polarization in the internally reflected echoes when two antennae, kept in parallel with each other, were rotated horizontally. The internal echoes were most clearly distinguished when the antenna azimuth was oriented perpendicular to the flow line of the ice sheet. The internal echoes with a high reflection coefficient were detected at depths of 500–700 m and 1000–1500 m at Mizuho station. Since a distinct internal echo at a depth of 500 m coincides with a 5 cm thick volcanic ash-laden ice layer found in the 700 m ice core taken near the observation site, these echoes may correspond to the acidic ice layers formed by past volcanic events in east Dronning Maud Land.

scholarly journals Tracing the depth of the Holocene ice in North Greenland from radio-echo sounding data

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (64) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanna B. Karlsson ◽  
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen ◽  
S. Prasad Gogineni ◽  
John D. Paden
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Fitting Method ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
North Greenland ◽  
Echo Sounding

Abstract Radio-echo sounding surveys over the Greenland ice sheet show clear, extensive internal layering, and comparisons with age–depth scales from deep ice cores allow for dating of the layering along the ice divide. We present one of the first attempts to extend the dated layers beyond the ice core drill sites by locating the depth of the Bølling–Allerød transition in >400 flight-lines using an automated fitting method. Results show that the transition is located in the upper one-third of the ice column in the central part of North Greenland, while the transition lowers towards the margin. This pattern mirrors the present surface accumulation, and also indicates that a substantial amount of pre-Holocene ice must be present in central North Greenland.

scholarly journals Bottom Topography and Internal Layers in East Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, from 179 MHz Radio Echo-Sounding

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 221-224
Author(s):  
Minoru Yoshida ◽  
Kazunobu Yamashita ◽  
Shinji Mae
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Flow Line ◽  
Bottom Topography ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Field Season ◽  
Echo Sounding

Extensive echo-sounding was carried out in east Dronning Maud Land during the 1984 field season. A 179 MHz radar with separate transmitting and receiving antennae was used and the echoes were recorded by a digital system to detect minute reflections. The results gave cross-sections of the ice sheet along traverse routes from lat. 69 °S. to 75°S, Detailed observations on the ground at Mizuho station showed that there was elliptical polarization in the internally reflected echoes when two antennae, kept in parallel with each other, were rotated horizontally. The internal echoes were most clearly distinguished when the antenna azimuth was oriented perpendicular to the flow line of the ice sheet. The internal echoes with a high reflection coefficient were detected at depths of 500–700 m and 1000–1500 m at Mizuho station. Since a distinct internal echo at a depth of 500 m coincides with a 5 cm thick volcanic ash-laden ice layer found in the 700 m ice core taken near the observation site, these echoes may correspond to the acidic ice layers formed by past volcanic events in east Dronning Maud Land.

scholarly journals Internal structure of the ice sheet between Kohnen station and Dome Fuji, Antarctica, revealed by airborne radio-echo sounding

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (64) ◽  
pp. 163-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Steinhage ◽  
Sepp Kipfstuhl ◽  
Uwe Nixdorf ◽  
Heinz Miller
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Depth Scale ◽  
Echo Sounding

Abstract This study aims to demonstrate that deep ice cores can be synchronized using internal horizons in the ice between the drill sites revealed by airborne radio-echo sounding (RES) over a distance of >1000km, despite significant variations in glaciological parameters, such as accumulation rate between the sites. In 2002/03 a profile between the Kohnen station and Dome Fuji deep ice-core drill sites, Antarctica, was completed using airborne RES. The survey reveals several continuous internal horizons in the RES section over a length of 1217 km. The layers allow direct comparison of the deep ice cores drilled at the two stations. In particular, the counterpart of a visible layer observed in the Kohnen station (EDML) ice core at 1054 m depth has been identified in the Dome Fuji ice core at 575 m depth using internal RES horizons. Thus the two ice cores can be synchronized, i.e. the ice at 1560 m depth (at the bottom of the 2003 EDML drilling) is ∼49ka old according to the Dome Fuji age/depth scale, using the traced internal layers presented in this study.

scholarly journals Glacial–interglacial dynamics of Antarctic firn columns: comparison between simulations and ice core air-δ<sup>15</sup>N measurements

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 983-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Capron ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
D. Buiron ◽  
A. Cauquoin ◽  
J. Chappellaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
The Last Deglaciation ◽  
Correct Estimation ◽  
Lock In

Abstract. Correct estimation of the firn lock-in depth is essential for correctly linking gas and ice chronologies in ice core studies. Here, two approaches to constrain the firn depth evolution in Antarctica are presented over the last deglaciation: outputs of a firn densification model, and measurements of δ15N of N2 in air trapped in ice core, assuming that δ15N is only affected by gravitational fractionation in the firn column. Since the firn densification process is largely governed by surface temperature and accumulation rate, we have investigated four ice cores drilled in coastal (Berkner Island, BI, and James Ross Island, JRI) and semi-coastal (TALDICE and EPICA Dronning Maud Land, EDML) Antarctic regions. Combined with available ice core air-δ15N measurements from the EPICA Dome C (EDC) site, the studied regions encompass a large range of surface accumulation rates and temperature conditions. Our δ15N profiles reveal a heterogeneous response of the firn structure to glacial–interglacial climatic changes. While firn densification simulations correctly predict TALDICE δ15N variations, they systematically fail to capture the large millennial-scale δ15N variations measured at BI and the δ15N glacial levels measured at JRI and EDML – a mismatch previously reported for central East Antarctic ice cores. New constraints of the EDML gas–ice depth offset during the Laschamp event (~41 ka) and the last deglaciation do not favour the hypothesis of a large convective zone within the firn as the explanation of the glacial firn model–δ15N data mismatch for this site. While we could not conduct an in-depth study of the influence of impurities in snow for firnification from the existing datasets, our detailed comparison between the δ15N profiles and firn model simulations under different temperature and accumulation rate scenarios suggests that the role of accumulation rate may have been underestimated in the current description of firnification models.

scholarly journals Distribution of Reflected Power From the Bed by Radio Echo-Sounding in the Shirase Glacier Drainage Area, East Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

1989 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 124-126
Author(s):  
Hirokazu Ohmae ◽  
Fumihiko Nishio ◽  
Shinji Mae
Keyword(s):  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Boundary Area ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Reflected Power ◽  
Basal Shear ◽  
Reflection Intensity ◽  
Echo Sounding

A large part of the area of the Shirase Glacier drainage basin has been surveyed by airborne (operating frequency: 179 MHz) and ground-based (60 MHz) radio echo-sounding to define the bedrock topography and to investigate the condition of bed/ice interface since 1982.It is shown that the reflection intensity from the bed, which is corrected for attenuation in the ice sheet, has a higher value for reflection intensity in the down-stream area of Shirase Glacier than in the up-stream area. The area of strongest intensity of reflection from the bed coincides with the area for which the calculated temperature at the bed is above −1°C. The boundary area between the highest and lowest values of corrected reflected intensity corresponds to the area of decreasing basal shear stress. It is found that the distribution of high corrected reflection intensity corresponds to the area of thinning of the ice sheet, which has been measured by ice-flow observation in the Shirase Glacier drainage basin.

scholarly journals New constraints on the gas age-ice age difference along the EPICA ice cores, 0–50 kyr

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Loulergue ◽  
F. Parrenin ◽  
T. Blunier ◽  
J.-M. Barnola ◽  
R. Spahni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Phase Relationship ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Polar Ice Sheets ◽  
Dronning Maud Land

Abstract. Gas is trapped in polar ice sheets at ~50–120 m below the surface and is therefore younger than the surrounding ice. Firn densification models are used to evaluate this ice age-gas age difference (Δage) in the past. However, such models need to be validated by data, in particular for periods colder than present day on the East Antarctic plateau. Here we bring new constraints to test a firn densification model applied to the EPICA Dome C (EDC) site for the last 50 kyr, by linking the EDC ice core to the EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice core, both in the ice phase (using volcanic horizons) and in the gas phase (using rapid methane variations). We also use the structured 10Be peak, occurring 41 kyr before present (BP) and due to the low geomagnetic field associated with the Laschamp event, to experimentally estimate the Δage during this event. Our results seem to reveal an overestimate of the Δage by the firn densification model during the last glacial period at EDC. Tests with different accumulation rates and temperature scenarios do not entirely resolve this discrepancy. Although the exact reasons for the Δage overestimate at the two EPICA sites remain unknown at this stage, we conclude that current densification model simulations have deficits under glacial climatic conditions. Whatever the cause of the Δage overestimate, our finding suggests that the phase relationship between CO2 and EDC temperature previously inferred for the start of the last deglaciation (lag of CO2 by 800±600 yr) seems to be overestimated.

Forward Modeling of the Internal Layers in Radio Echo Sounding Using Electrical and Density Measurements from Ice Cores

1997 ◽  
Vol 101 (32) ◽  
pp. 6201-6204 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Miners ◽  
Arne Hildebrand ◽  
Sebastian Gerland ◽  
Norbert Blindow ◽  
Daniel Steinhage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Cores ◽  
Forward Modeling ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Density Measurements ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
Echo Sounding

scholarly journals Some comments on climatic reconstructions from ice cores drilled in areas of high melt

1997 ◽  
Vol 43 (143) ◽  
pp. 90-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy M. Koerner
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Thermal Maximum ◽  
Devon Ice Cap ◽  
Seasonal Signals ◽  
Cross Correlations

AbstractPoor consideration has been given in many Arctic circum-polar ice-core studies to the effect of summer snow melt on chemistry, stable-isotope concentrations and time-scales. Many of these corps are drilled close to the firn line where melt is intense. Some come from below the firn line where accumulation is solely in the form of super-imposed ice. In all cases, seasonal signals are reduced or removed and, in some, time gaps develop during periods of excessive melting which situate the drill site in the ablation zone. Consequently, cross correlations of assumed synchronous events among the cores are invalid, so that time-scales along the same cores differ between authors by factors of over 2. Many so-called climatic signals are imaginary rather than real. By reference to published analyses of cores from the superimposed ice zone on Devon Ice Cap (Koerner, 1970) and Meighen Ice Cap (Koerner and Paterson, 1974), it is shown how melt affects all the normally well-established ice-core proxies and leads to their misinterpretation. Despite these limitations, the cores can give valuable low-resolution records for all or part of the Holocene. They show that the thermal maximum in the circum-polar Arctic occurred in the early Holocene. This maximum, effected negative balances on all the ice caps and removed the smaller ones. Cooler conditions in the second half of the Holocene have caused the regrowth of these same ice caps.

scholarly journals New maps of the ice thickness and subglacial topography in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, determined by means of airborne radio-echo sounding

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 267-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Steinhage ◽  
U. Nixdorf ◽  
U. Meyer ◽  
H. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Ice Volume ◽  
Site Survey ◽  
Radio Echo Sounding ◽  
First Results ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Subglacial Topography ◽  
Echo Sounding

AbstractSince the austral summer of 1994-95 the Alfred Wegener Institute has carried out airborne radio-echo sounding (RES) measurements in Antarctica with its newly designed RES system. Since 1995-96 an ongoing pre-site survey for an ice-coring drill site in Dronning Maud Land has been carried out as part of the European Project for Ice Goring in Antarctica. The survey covers an area of 948 000 km2, with >49 500 km of airborne RES obtained from >200 hours of flight operation flown during the period 1994-97. In this paper, first results of the airborne RES survey are graphically summarized as newly derived maps of the ice thickness and subglacial topography, as well as a three-dimensional view of surface and subglacial bed and outcrop topography, revealing a total ice volume of 1.48 x 106 km3.

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