Abstract
ABSTRACTWe offer the first sub-seasonal view of glacial age archives from the Siple Dome-A (SDMA) ice core using the ultra-high resolution capabilities of a newly developed laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS; 121 µm sampling resolution) system capable of conducting multi-element glaciochemical analysis. Our ultra-high resolution data demonstrates that: (1) the SDMA ice core record can be annually dated based on seasonality in chemical inputs at a depth not previously possible using previous glaciochemical sampling methods, (2) winter accumulation at the SD site was greater than summer accumulation during the three late glacial periods selected (~15.3, 17.3, 21.4 Ka ago) in this study and (3) resulting annual layer thicknesses results show greater variability than the current SD ice core depth/age model (Brook and others, 2005), possibly due to depositional effects such as wind scouring and/or decadal variability in snow accumulation that is not captured by the resolution of the current depth/age model.
Highlights
In this paper we use laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to measure sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) from three glacial age ice archive sections of the Siple Dome-A core (SDMA, Fig. 1)
It was not possible to sample the selected archives continuously because the SDMA ice core is over two decades old, and some of the ice is too fractured on the surface for sampling reliably by LA-ICP-MS
The SDMA ice archives sampled were chosen to investigate snapshots of late glacial ice constrained by the availability of fracture free, LA-quality ice for sampling
Summary
In this paper we use laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to measure sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) from three glacial age ice archive sections of the Siple Dome-A core (SDMA, Fig. 1). Resulting ultra-high resolution 121 μm sampling yields an average of 62 samples a−1 for the sections under study, providing sub-seasonal characterization of atmospheric circulation proxies and precipitation changes such as large storm events. For the first time at this depth in the SDMA core, we are able to annually date the record adding information to the current depth/age scale that has until now relied primarily on methane tie points to annually dated Greenland ice cores
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