Abstract
In close cooperation with the GGU glacier-hydrologicaI field team a small group from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, West Germany, worked for four weeks in July-August 1988 on the West Greenland ice-sheet margin at Paakitsup Akuliarusersua, about 40 km northeast of Ilulissat/Jakobshavn. Previous stable isotope studies in the area by GGU (Reeh & Thomsen, 1986) have documented that ice deposited in the inland regions of the ice sheet during the last ice age is now exposed as a roughly 600 m wide band at the surfaee of the ice sheet near the ice edge (Reeh et al., 1987a). The main purpose of the AWI expedition was to perform detailed (continuous) surfaee sampling for stable isotope analysis (bIBO) through the transition from the last glacial period (Wisconsinan) to the present post-glacial period (Holocene). A comparison of such a detailed isotopic record from the surface of the ice margin with similar records from deep Greenland ice cores should tell how well the continuity of the layer sequence is preserved in the ice-margin record. This question is of crucial importance for evaluating the potential yield of the ice margin as a source of easily accessibie old ice.
Highlights
In dose cooperation with the GGU glacier-hydrologicaI field team a small group from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, West Germany, worked for four weeks in July-August 1988 on the West Greenland ice-sheet margin at Paakitsup Akuliarusersua, about 40 km northeast of Ilulissat/Jakobshavn
About 2000 ice and water samples for stable isotope analysis were collected from six different ice-margin locations and from eight different lakes, ranging in elevation between 187 and 394 m
Profile A will provide an excellent possibility for studying the continuity of the layer sequences exposed at the surface of the ice margin and for studying the reproducibility of the ice-margin isotopic records
Summary
Besides the detailed sampling programme, other surface investigations were performed:. (1) Collection of surface ice and water samples for stable isotope analysis at other sites on the ice margin. (2) Collection of precipitation for stable isotope analysis. (3) Collection of water samples from lakes in the ice-free foreland for stable isotope analysis. (4) Placement of stakes in the ice for ablation and movement studies. (5) Surveying work for location of sampling sites and for movement measurements. (6) Measurement of the conductivity of surface waters along profile lines on the ice-sheet margin
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