scholarly journals Phase relationships between orbital forcing and the composition of air trapped in Antarctic ice cores

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Bazin ◽  
Amaelle Landais ◽  
Emilie Capron ◽  
Valérie Masson-Delmotte ◽  
Catherine Ritz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Air Content ◽  
Annual Layer ◽  
Polar Ice Sheets ◽  
Orbital Tuning ◽  
Two Parameters ◽  
First Time ◽  
Mis 5

Abstract. Orbital tuning is central for ice core chronologies beyond annual layer counting, available back to 60 ka (i.e. thousands of years before 1950) for Greenland ice cores. While several complementary orbital tuning tools have recently been developed using δ18Oatm, δO2⁄N2 and air content with different orbital targets, quantifying their uncertainties remains a challenge. Indeed, the exact processes linking variations of these parameters, measured in the air trapped in ice, to their orbital targets are not yet fully understood. Here, we provide new series of δO2∕N2 and δ18Oatm data encompassing Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5 (between 100 and 160 ka) and the oldest part (340–800 ka) of the East Antarctic EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core. For the first time, the measurements over MIS 5 allow an inter-comparison of δO2∕N2 and δ18Oatm records from three East Antarctic ice core sites (EDC, Vostok and Dome F). This comparison highlights some site-specific δO2∕N2 variations. Such an observation, the evidence of a 100 ka periodicity in the δO2∕N2 signal and the difficulty to identify extrema and mid-slopes in δO2∕N2 increase the uncertainty associated with the use of δO2∕N2 as an orbital tuning tool, now calculated to be 3–4 ka. When combining records of δ18Oatm and δO2∕N2 from Vostok and EDC, we find a loss of orbital signature for these two parameters during periods of minimum eccentricity (∼ 400 ka, ∼ 720–800 ka). Our data set reveals a time-varying offset between δO2∕N2 and δ18Oatm records over the last 800 ka that we interpret as variations in the lagged response of δ18Oatm to precession. The largest offsets are identified during Terminations II, MIS 8 and MIS 16, corresponding to periods of destabilization of the Northern polar ice sheets. We therefore suggest that the occurrence of Heinrich–like events influences the response of δ18Oatm to precession.

scholarly journals Phase relationships between orbital forcing and the composition of air trapped in Antarctic ice cores

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1437-1477 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bazin ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
V. Masson-Delmotte ◽  
C. Ritz ◽  
G. Picard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Air Content ◽  
Heinrich Events ◽  
Annual Layer ◽  
Orbital Tuning ◽  
Two Parameters ◽  
A Site ◽  
First Time ◽  
Mis 5

Abstract. Orbital tuning is central for ice core chronologies beyond annual layer counting, available back to 60 ka (i.e. thousand of years before 1950) for Greenland ice cores. While several complementary orbital tuning tools have recently been developed using δ18Oatm, δO2/N2 and air content with different orbital targets, quantifying their uncertainties remains a challenge. Indeed, the exact processes linking variations of these parameters, measured in the air trapped in ice, to their orbital targets are not yet fully understood. Here, we provide new series of δO2/N2 and δ18Oatm data encompassing Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5 (between 100–160 ka) and the oldest part (380–800 ka) of the East Antarctic EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core. For the first time, the measurements over MIS 5 allow an inter-comparison of δO2/N2 and δ18Oatm records from three East Antarctic ice core sites (EDC, Vostok and Dome F). This comparison highlights a site-specific relationship between δO2/N2 and its local summer solstice insolation. Such a relationship increases the uncertainty associated with the use of δO2/N2 as a tool for orbital tuning. Combining records of δ18Oatm and δO2/N2 from Vostok and EDC, we evidence a loss of orbital signature for these two parameters during periods of minimum eccentricity (∼400, ∼720–800 ka). Our dataset reveals a time-varying lag between δO2/N2 and δ18Oatm over the last 800 ka that we interpret as variations of the lag between δ18Oatm and precession. Large lags of ∼5 ka are identified during Terminations I and II, associated with strong Heinrich events. On the opposite, minimal lags (∼1–2 ka) are identified during four periods characterized by high eccentricity, intermediate ice volume and no Heinrich events (MIS 6–7, the end of MIS 9, MIS 15 and MIS 17). We therefore suggest that the occurrence of Heinrich events influences the response of δ18Oatm to precession.

scholarly journals An optimized multi-proxy, multi-site Antarctic ice and gas orbital chronology (AICC2012): 120–800 ka

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1715-1731 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bazin ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
B. Lemieux-Dudon ◽  
H. Toyé Mahamadou Kele ◽  
D. Veres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Uncertainty Range ◽  
Air Content ◽  
Dating Method ◽  
Long Timescales ◽  
Age Constraints ◽  
Mis 5

Abstract. An accurate and coherent chronological framework is essential for the interpretation of climatic and environmental records obtained from deep polar ice cores. Until now, one common ice core age scale had been developed based on an inverse dating method (Datice), combining glaciological modelling with absolute and stratigraphic markers between 4 ice cores covering the last 50 ka (thousands of years before present) (Lemieux-Dudon et al., 2010). In this paper, together with the companion paper of Veres et al. (2013), we present an extension of this work back to 800 ka for the NGRIP, TALDICE, EDML, Vostok and EDC ice cores using an improved version of the Datice tool. The AICC2012 (Antarctic Ice Core Chronology 2012) chronology includes numerous new gas and ice stratigraphic links as well as improved evaluation of background and associated variance scenarios. This paper concentrates on the long timescales between 120–800 ka. In this framework, new measurements of δ18Oatm over Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11–12 on EDC and a complete δ18Oatm record of the TALDICE ice cores permit us to derive additional orbital gas age constraints. The coherency of the different orbitally deduced ages (from δ18Oatm, δO2/N2 and air content) has been verified before implementation in AICC2012. The new chronology is now independent of other archives and shows only small differences, most of the time within the original uncertainty range calculated by Datice, when compared with the previous ice core reference age scale EDC3, the Dome F chronology, or using a comparison between speleothems and methane. For instance, the largest deviation between AICC2012 and EDC3 (5.4 ka) is obtained around MIS 12. Despite significant modifications of the chronological constraints around MIS 5, now independent of speleothem records in AICC2012, the date of Termination II is very close to the EDC3 one.

scholarly journals On the occurrence of annual layers in Dome Fuji ice core early Holocene ice

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1127-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Svensson ◽  
S. Fujita ◽  
M. Bigler ◽  
M. Braun ◽  
R. Dallmayr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Annual Layer

Abstract. Whereas ice cores from high-accumulation sites in coastal Antarctica clearly demonstrate annual layering, it is debated whether a seasonal signal is also preserved in ice cores from lower-accumulation sites further inland and particularly on the East Antarctic Plateau. In this study, we examine 5 m of early Holocene ice from the Dome Fuji (DF) ice core at a high temporal resolution by continuous flow analysis. The ice was continuously analysed for concentrations of dust, sodium, ammonium, liquid conductivity, and water isotopic composition. Furthermore, a dielectric profiling was performed on the solid ice. In most of the analysed ice, the multi-parameter impurity data set appears to resolve the seasonal variability although the identification of annual layers is not always unambiguous. The study thus provides information on the snow accumulation process in central East Antarctica. A layer counting based on the same principles as those previously applied to the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice core Project) and the Antarctic EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice cores leads to a mean annual layer thickness for the DF ice of 3.0 ± 0.3 cm that compares well to existing estimates. The measured DF section is linked to the EDML ice core through a characteristic pattern of three significant acidity peaks that are present in both cores. The corresponding section of the EDML ice core has recently been dated by annual layer counting and the number of years identified independently in the two cores agree within error estimates. We therefore conclude that, to first order, the annual signal is preserved in this section of the DF core. This case study demonstrates the feasibility of determining annually deposited strata on the central East Antarctic Plateau. It also opens the possibility of resolving annual layers in the Eemian section of Antarctic ice cores where the accumulation is estimated to have been greater than in the Holocene.

scholarly journals An optimized multi-proxy, multi-site Antarctic ice and gas orbital chronology (AICC2012): 120–800 ka

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 5963-6009 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bazin ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
B. Lemieux-Dudon ◽  
H. Toyé Mahamadou Kele ◽  
D. Veres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Uncertainty Range ◽  
Air Content ◽  
Dating Method ◽  
Long Timescales ◽  
Age Constraints ◽  
Mis 5

Abstract. An accurate and coherent chronological framework is essential for the interpretation of climatic and environmental records obtained from deep polar ice cores. Until now, one common ice core age scale has been developed based on an inverse dating method (Datice) combining glaciological modelling with absolute and stratigraphic markers between 4 ice cores covering the last 50 ka (thousand of years before present) (Lemieux-Dudon et al., 2010). In this paper, together with the companion paper of Veres et al. (2012), we present an extension of this work back to 800 ka for the NGRIP, TALDICE, EDML, Vostok and EDC ice cores using an improved version of the Datice tool. The AICC2012 (Antarctic Ice Core Chronology 2012) chronology includes numerous new gas and ice stratigraphic links as well as improved evaluation of background and associated variance scenarios. This paper concentrates on the long timescales between 120–800 ka. In this frame, new measurements of δ18Oatm over Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11–12 on EDC and a complete δ18Oatm record of the TALDICE ice cores permit us to derive new orbital gas age constraints. The coherency of the different orbitally deduced ages (from δ18Oatm, δO2/N2 and air content) has been verified before implementation in AICC2012. The new chronology shows only small differences, well within the original uncertainty range, when compared with the previous ice core reference age scale EDC3. For instance, the duration of the last four interglacial periods is not affected by more than 5%. The largest deviation between AICC2012 and EDC3 (4.4 ka) is obtained around MIS 12. Despite significant modifications of the chronological constraints around MIS 5, now independent of speleothem records in AICC2012, the date of Termination II is very close to the EDC3 one.

scholarly journals The WAIS Divide deep ice core WD2014 chronology – Part 1: Methane synchronization (68–31 ka BP) and the gas age–ice age difference

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Buizert ◽  
K. M. Cuffey ◽  
J. P. Severinghaus ◽  
D. Baggenstos ◽  
T. J. Fudge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Impurity Content ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
High Accumulation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Annual Layer ◽  
West Antarctic

Abstract. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS Divide, WD) ice core is a newly drilled, high-accumulation deep ice core that provides Antarctic climate records of the past ∼68 ka at unprecedented temporal resolution. The upper 2850 m (back to 31.2 ka BP) have been dated using annual-layer counting. Here we present a chronology for the deep part of the core (67.8–31.2 ka BP), which is based on stratigraphic matching to annual-layer-counted Greenland ice cores using globally well-mixed atmospheric methane. We calculate the WD gas age–ice age difference (Δage) using a combination of firn densification modeling, ice-flow modeling, and a data set of δ15N-N2, a proxy for past firn column thickness. The largest Δage at WD occurs during the Last Glacial Maximum, and is 525 ± 120 years. Internally consistent solutions can be found only when assuming little to no influence of impurity content on densification rates, contrary to a recently proposed hypothesis. We synchronize the WD chronology to a linearly scaled version of the layer-counted Greenland Ice Core Chronology (GICC05), which brings the age of Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events into agreement with the U/Th absolutely dated Hulu Cave speleothem record. The small Δage at WD provides valuable opportunities to investigate the timing of atmospheric greenhouse gas variations relative to Antarctic climate, as well as the interhemispheric phasing of the "bipolar seesaw".

scholarly journals A multi-ice-core, annual-layer-counted Greenland ice-core chronology for the last 3800 years: GICC21

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Sinnl ◽  
Mai Winstrup ◽  
Tobias Erhardt ◽  
Eliza Cook ◽  
Camilla Jensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Cosmogenic Radionuclides ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Annual Layer ◽  
One Year

Abstract. Ice-core timescales are vital for the understanding of past climate; hence they should be updated whenever significant amounts of new data can contribute to improvements. Here, the Greenland ice-core chronology was revised for the last 3835 years by synchronizing six deep ice-cores and three shallow ice-cores from the central Greenland ice sheet. A layer-counting bias was found in all ice cores because of site-specific signal disturbances, and a manual comparison of all ice cores was deemed necessary to increase timescale accuracy. A new method was applied by combining automated counting of annual layers on multiple parallel proxies and manual fine-tuning. After examining sources of error and their correlation lengths, the uncertainty rate was quantified to be one year per century. The new timescale is younger than the previous Greenland chronology by about 13 years at 3800 years ago. The most recent 800 years are largely unaffected by the revision, while the slope of the offset between timescales is steepest between 800 and 1000 years ago. Moreover, offset-oscillations of about 5 years around the average are observed between 2500 and 3800 years ago. The non-linear offset behavior is attributed to previous mismatches of volcanic eruptions, to the much more extensive data set available to this study, and to the finer resolution of the new ice-core matching. In response to volcanic eruptions, averaged water isotopes and layer thicknesses from Greenland ice cores provide evidence of notable cooling lasting for up to a decade, longer than reported in previous studies of volcanic forcing. By analysis of the common variations of cosmogenic radionuclides, the new ice-core timescale is found to be in alignment with the IntCal20 curve. Radiocarbon dated evidence found in the proximity of eruption sites such as Vesuvius or Thera was compared to the ice-core dataset; no conclusive evidence was found regarding if these two eruptions can be matched to acidity spikes in the ice cores. A hitherto unidentified cooling event in the ice cores is observed at about 3600 years ago (1600 BCE), which could have been caused by a large eruption which is, however, not clearly recorded in the acidity signal. The hunt for clear signs of the Thera eruption in Greenland ice-cores thus remains elusive.

A novel high-resolution laser-melting sampler for discrete analyses of ion concentrations and stable water isotopic compositions in firn and ice cores

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Motizuki ◽  
Yoichi Nakai ◽  
Kazuya Takahashi ◽  
Junya Hirose ◽  
Yu Vin Sahoo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Depth Resolution ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Accumulation Rates ◽  
Laser Melting ◽  
Ion Concentrations ◽  
Annual Layer ◽  
Annual Resolution ◽  
High Depth

<p>Ice cores preserve past climatic changes and, in some cases, astronomical signals. Here we present a newly developed automated ice-core sampler that employs laser melting. A hole in an ice core approximately 3 mm in diameter is melted and heated well below the boiling point by laser irradiation, and the meltwater is simultaneously siphoned by a 2 mm diameter movable evacuation nozzle that also holds the laser fiber. The advantage of sampling by laser melting is that molecular ion concentrations and stable water isotope compositions in ice cores can be measured at high depth resolution, which is advantageous for ice cores with low accumulation rates. This device takes highly discrete samples from ice cores, attaining depth resolution as small as ~3 mm with negligible cross contamination; the resolution can also be set at longer lengths suitable for validating longer-term profiles of various ionic and water isotopic constituents in ice cores. This technique allows the detailed reconstruction of past climatic changes at annual resolution and the investigation of transient ionic and isotopic signals within single annual layers in low-accumulation cores, potentially by annual layer counting.</p>

scholarly journals A 60 000 year Greenland stratigraphic ice core chronology

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Svensson ◽  
K. K. Andersen ◽  
M. Bigler ◽  
H. B. Clausen ◽  
D. Dahl-Jensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The North ◽  
Annual Layer ◽  
Zone Ii ◽  
Absolute Age ◽  
Age Estimates ◽  
New Time

Abstract. The Greenland Ice Core Chronology 2005 (GICC05) is a time scale based on annual layer counting of high-resolution records from Greenland ice cores. Whereas the Holocene part of the time scale is based on various records from the DYE-3, the GRIP, and the NorthGRIP ice cores, the glacial part is solely based on NorthGRIP records. Here we present an 18 ka extension of the time scale such that GICC05 continuously covers the past 60 ka. The new section of the time scale places the onset of Greenland Interstadial 12 (GI-12) at 46.9±1.0 ka b2k (before year AD 2000), the North Atlantic Ash Zone II layer in GI-15 at 55.4±1.2 ka b2k, and the onset of GI-17 at 59.4±1.3 ka b2k. The error estimates are derived from the accumulated number of uncertain annual layers. In the 40–60 ka interval, the new time scale has a discrepancy with the Meese-Sowers GISP2 time scale of up to 2.4 ka. Assuming that the Greenland climatic events are synchronous with those seen in the Chinese Hulu Cave speleothem record, GICC05 compares well to the time scale of that record with absolute age differences of less than 800 years throughout the 60 ka period. The new time scale is generally in close agreement with other independently dated records and reference horizons, such as the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion, the French Villars Cave and the Austrian Kleegruben Cave speleothem records, suggesting high accuracy of both event durations and absolute age estimates.

scholarly journals Simulated features of the air-hydrate formation process in the Antarctic ice sheet at Vostok

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 191-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey N. Salamatin ◽  
Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov ◽  
Takeo Hondoh ◽  
Tomoko Ikeda
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Hydrate Formation ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Air Bubbles ◽  
Air Bubble ◽  
Self Diffusion ◽  
Rate Limiting Step ◽  
Typical Time ◽  
Polar Ice Sheets ◽  
Selective Diffusion

AbstractA recently developed theory of post-nucleation conversion of an air bubble to air-hydrate crystal in ice is applied to simulate two different types of air-hydrate formation in polar ice sheets. The work is focused on interpretation of the Vostok (Antarctica) ice-core data. The hydrostatic compression of bubbles is the rate-limiting step of the phase transformation which is additionally influenced by selective diffusion of the gas components from neighboring air bubbles. The latter process leads to the gas fractionation resulting in lower (higher) N2/O2 ratios in air hydrates (coexisting bubbles) with respect to atmospheric air. The typical time of the post-nucleation conversion decreases at Vostok from 1300-200 a at the beginning to 50-3 a at the end of the transition zone. The model of the diffusive transport of the air constituents from air bubbles to hydrate crystals is constrained by the data of Raman spectra measurements. The oxygen and nitrogen self-diffusion (permeation) coefficients in ice are determined at 220 K as 4.5 × 10−8 and 9.5 × 10−8 mm2 a−1, respectively while the activation energy is estimated to be about 50 kJ mol−1. The gas-fractionation time-scale at Vostok, τF ∼300 a, appears to be two orders of magnitude less than the typical time of the air-hydrate nucleation, τz ∼30-35 ka, and thus the condition for the extreme gas fractionation, τF ≪ τz is satisfied. Application of the theory to the GRIP and GISP2 ice cores shows that on average, a significant gas fractionation cannot be expected for air hydrates in central Greenland. However, a noticeable (statistically valid) nitrogen enrichment might be observed in the last air bubbles at the end of the transition.

scholarly journals Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 317-330
Author(s):  
Andreas Plach ◽  
Bo M. Vinther ◽  
Kerim H. Nisancioglu ◽  
Sindhu Vudayagiri ◽  
Thomas Blunier
Keyword(s):  
High Surface ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Surface Elevation ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Air Content ◽  
Climate Simulations ◽  
Surface Melt ◽  
Eemian Interglacial

Abstract. This study presents simulations of Greenland surface melt for the Eemian interglacial period (∼130 000 to 115 000 years ago) derived from regional climate simulations with a coupled surface energy balance model. Surface melt is of high relevance due to its potential effect on ice core observations, e.g., lowering the preserved total air content (TAC) used to infer past surface elevation. An investigation of surface melt is particularly interesting for warm periods with high surface melt, such as the Eemian interglacial period. Furthermore, Eemian ice is the deepest and most compressed ice preserved on Greenland, resulting in our inability to identify melt layers visually. Therefore, simulating Eemian melt rates and associated melt layers is beneficial to improve the reconstruction of past surface elevation. Estimated TAC, based on simulated melt during the Eemian, could explain the lower TAC observations. The simulations show Eemian surface melt at all deep Greenland ice core locations and an average of up to ∼30 melt days per year at Dye-3, corresponding to more than 600 mm water equivalent (w.e.) of annual melt. For higher ice sheet locations, between 60 and 150 mmw.e.yr-1 on average are simulated. At the summit of Greenland, this yields a refreezing ratio of more than 25 % of the annual accumulation. As a consequence, high melt rates during warm periods should be considered when interpreting Greenland TAC fluctuations as surface elevation changes. In addition to estimating the influence of melt on past TAC in ice cores, the simulated surface melt could potentially be used to identify coring locations where Greenland ice is best preserved.

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