2013/10/03 by Nicole E. Spaulding, Nicole Spaulding, John A. Higgins +11 · 56 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Antarctic sea ice #Arctic ice pack #Astro and Planetary Science #Climate change #Cryosphere #Geography #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Glacier #Ice core #Ice divide #Ice field #Ice sheet #Ice stream #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Oceanography #Paleoclimatology #Paleontology #Physical geography #Sea ice #Transect
paper · doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2013.07.004
published in Quaternary Research 80(3), 562-574 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2013/10/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Terrestrial meteorite ages indicate that some ice at the Allan Hills blue ice area (AH BIA) may be as old as 2.2 Ma. As such, ice from the AH BIA could potentially be used to extend the ice core record of paleoclimate beyond 800 ka. We collected samples from 5 to 10 cm depth along a 5 km transect through the main icefield and drilled a 225 m ice core (S27) at the midpoint of the transect to develop the climate archive of the AH BIA. Stable water isotope measurements (δD) of the surface chips and of ice core S27 yield comparable signals, indicating that the climate record has not been significantly altered in the surface ice. Measurements of 40 Ar atm and δ 18 O atm taken from ice core S27 and eight additional shallow ice cores constrain the age of the ice to approximately 90–250 ka. Our findings provide a framework around which future investigations of potentially older ice in the AH BIA could be based.