Dome Fuji Ice Research Articles

Mapping age and basal conditions of ice in the Dome Fuji region, Antarctica, by combining radar internal layer stratigraphy and flow modeling

Abstract. The Dome Fuji (DF) region in Antarctica is a potential site for an ice core with a record of over 1 Myr. Here, we combine large-scale internal airborne radar stratigraphy with a 1-D model to estimate the age of basal ice in the DF region. The radar data used in the study were collected in a survey during the 2016–2017 Antarctic season. We transfer the latest age–depth scales from the DF ice core to isochrones traced in radargrams in the surrounding 500 km × 550 km region. At each point of the survey the 1-D model uses the ages of isochrones to construct the age–depth scale at depths where dated isochrones do not exist, the surface accumulation rate and the basal thermal condition, including melt rate and the thickness of stagnant ice. Our resulting age distribution and age density suggest that several promising sites with ice older than 1.5 Myr in the DF region might exist. The deduced melt rates and presence of stagnant ice provide more constraints for locating sites with a cold base. The accumulation rates range from 0.015 to 0.038 m a−1 ice equivalent. Based on sensitivity studies we find that the number and depth of picked isochrones and the timescale of the ice core severely affect the model results. Our study demonstrates that constraints from deep radar isochrones and a trustworthy timescale could improve the model estimation to find old ice in the DF region.

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

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.

Micrometeorites in Antarctic ice detected by Ir: estimation of 120k year old accretion rate

The accretion rate of micrometeorites (MMs) was estimated from Ir contents in snow around Dome Fuji Station and ice shards obtained during ice core drilling at Dome Fuji Station, Antarctica. The snow and ice shards were melted and filtered from the residues. Although MMs were not found on filters, we tried to detect them from the residues as Ir peaks determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Although Ir is very rare in the earth’s crust, its concentration is high in extraterrestrial matter (e.g., chondrites). Trace amounts of Ir can be easily detected by INAA, because the cross section of Ir is relatively large (e.g., 309 barn). The accretion rates were estimated for 120k year ago, 5k year ago and at present, as (3.2 ± 0.9) × 102 t/year (8.6 ± 0.18) × 103 t/year and (1.3 ± 0.10) × 103 t/year, respectively. These estimates were comparable to those of previous studies, however the rate of 120k year ago was approximately an order of magnitudes lower than the others.

Electrical measurements on the 2503 m Dome F Antarctic ice core

AbstractThe 320 kyr climatic record from the 2503 m Dome Fuji (Antarctica) ice core was analyzed using two electrical methods: AC-ECM and ECM (electrical conductivity measurements). AC-ECM is a method to detect the complex admittance between electrodes dragged on the ice surface with mm-scale resolution and uses 1V and 1 MHz. the ratio of the real to imaginary part of the admittance is the AC loss factor, which responds linearly to the amount of sulfuric acid and hydrogen ions. Both the AC loss factor and the ECM current respond to acid, but the ECM signal tends to saturate at high acidities. Dome Fuji ice was measured to be highly acidic, with background values of 2–7 μM, and had 4500 major peaks with acidities of up to 90 μM. This ice-core evidence and earlier snow-chemistry survey around the dome region indicates that Dome F may have a better connection to the stratosphere than have sites at lower altitude, which allows more stratospheric aerosol and gases to reach the snow surface. Acidity tends to be high in interglacial periods, but correlation between acidity and δ18O is not straightforward. Electrical signals decreased and smoothed out with increasing depth; the diffusion coefficients deduced from this smoothing were 10–102 times greater than in solid ice. the ice core exhibited electromechanical effects and expelling effects from sulfate peaks.

Variation in N2/O2 ratio of occluded air in Dome Fuji antarctic ice

Ancient atmospheric gases are trapped in polar ice sheets. The gas molecules are stored in air bubbles at shallow depth and are incorporated into clathrate hydrates below a depth at which the hydrostatic pressure becomes greater than the formation pressure of the air clathrate hydrate. Significant gas fractionation has been found from measurements of the depth profile of the N2/O2 composition ratios in clathrate hydrates and air bubbles of Vostok antarctic ice. To investigate the effect of the ice condition on the fractionation process, we measured the N2/O2 ratios in clathrate hydrates and air bubbles from Dome Fuji antarctic ice using Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the N2/O2 ratios in the clathrate hydrates of the Dome Fuji ice are slightly lower than those of the Vostok ice, although the tendency of the variation of the N2/O2 ratio with depth is similar. The difference in the N2/O2 ratio between the Dome Fuji ice and the Vostok ice for the transition zone is attributed to the difference of the ice temperature and the snow accumulation rate. On the other hand, it is concluded that the difference in the bubble‐free ice zone was caused by gas loss from the ice core after coring. The N2/O2 ratio of clathrate hydrate increases after coring because of higher diffusion rate and lower dissociation pressure of O2 than of N2. Our data suggest that the effect of gas loss in the Dome Fuji ice is relatively small, and so the gas composition in the Dome Fuji ice can be a precise paleoenvironmental indicator.

Raman scattering and neutron-diffraction studies of fresh ice and Antarctic ice

AbstractIn order to investigate the temperature dependence of vibrational spectra of ice, we measured the Raman spectra of artificial ice Ih in the temperature range 198–270 K. The frequency of translational lattice vibrations decreases with increases in the measurement temperature, and the rate of decrease discontinuously changes at 237 K. The discontinuous change of the rate of decrease is consistent with the phase transition from a proton-disordered arrangement to a proton-ordered arrangement at the ice temperature Ti = 237 K in polar ice sheets, as proposed by Fukazawa and others (1998b). We then compared the Raman spectra of translational lattice vibrations in ice Ih and Antarctic ice and examined the possible effects of the phase transition on the geophysical properties of Antarctic ice. We also report preliminary results of the neutron powder diffraction of Dome Fuji (DF) Antarctic ice, and discuss arrangements of protons in DF ice.

Incoherent inelastic neutron scattering measurements on dome-fuji antarctic ice

We measured the incoherent inelastic neutron scattering (IINS) in ice (depth, 201–2201 m) recovered from Dome-Fuji (DF), Antarctica. We found that the peak intensity of librational vibration in the IINS spectra of DF ice changes with the ice temperature (Ti) in the ice sheet: the intensity at 97 meV decreases with increases in depth from 201 to 2201 m. From the IINS spectra, we calculated the Ti dependence of the order parameter (the ratio of ordered protons in ice), which is consistent with the theory of the order-disorder phase-transition from proton arrangements in ordinary ice to proton-ordered arrangements at Ti = 237 K. The results indicate that Antarctic ice in which Ti ≤ 237 K contains proton-ordered arrangements.

Proton ordering in Antarctic ice observed by Raman and neutron scattering

Analysis of the Raman spectra of Antarctic ice showed that a second-order phase transition from the proton-disordered phase to a proton-ordered phase takes place at T i=237 K ( T i; ice temperature in the ice sheet) in the Antarctic ice sheet. We discovered that the incoherent inelastic neutron scattering spectra of both ice XI (with the proton-ordered arrangement) and Dome–Fuji (DF) Antarctic ice ( T i=213 K) have a sharp peak at 79 meV in the librational region, but the peak of ice Ih is much lower. This neutron measurement confirmed that the proton-ordered arrangement exists in DF ice.