Abstract
Polar ice cores play a central role in studies of the earth’s climate system through natural archives. A pressing issue is the analysis of the oldest, highly thinned ice core sections, where the identification of paleoclimate signals is particularly challenging. For this, state-of-the-art imaging by laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has the potential to be revolutionary due to its combination of micron-scale 2D chemical information with visual features. However, the quantitative study of record preservation in chemical images raises new questions that call for the expertise of the computer vision community. To illustrate this new inter-disciplinary frontier, we describe a selected set of key questions. One critical task is to assess the paleoclimate significance of single line profiles along the main core axis, which we show is a scale-dependent problem for which advanced image analysis methods are critical. Another important issue is the evaluation of post-depositional layer changes, for which the chemical images provide rich information. Accordingly, the time is ripe to begin an intensified exchange between the two scientific communities of computer vision and ice core science. The collaborative building of a new framework for investigating high-resolution chemical images with automated image analysis techniques will also benefit the already wide-spread application of laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry chemical imaging in the geosciences.
Highlights
Ice cores drilled on the polar ice sheets are among the most important climate archives, delivering valuable insights into the complexity of our climate system (Fischer et al, 2021)
We describe a selected set of key problems in the analysis of chemical images of ice cores as examples of future inter-disciplinary research questions, that can only be successfully tackled in close collaboration with the computer vision community
We discuss three crucial questions that connect the analysis of the chemical images to this challenge, illustrating where the application of computer vision methods could lead to breakthroughs
Summary
Ice cores drilled on the polar ice sheets are among the most important climate archives, delivering valuable insights into the complexity of our climate system (Fischer et al, 2021). A quantitative study of the ice stratigraphy at the microscale, in particular the 2D distribution of chemical impurities, is crucial to understand how climate signals have been conserved or transformed, within the flowing ice over tens to hundreds of millennia This is of particular relevance for the retrieval of novel climate records from the deepest, oldest and thinnest layers, the primary target of the upcoming ambitious “Oldest ice” ice core drillings in Antarctica, which is a grand challenge in the ice core sciences (Brook et al, 2006; Fischer et al, 2013). The most common approach is direct visual inspection, combined with microstructural analysis of selected ice sections via optical microscopy Such datasets have revealed new insights into the complexity of the underlying physical processes, challenging established glaciological concepts (Kipfstuhl et al, 2009; Faria et al, 2014). We describe a selected set of key problems in the analysis of chemical images of ice cores as examples of future inter-disciplinary research questions, that can only be successfully tackled in close collaboration with the computer vision community
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