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The Dominion Range Ice Core, Queen Maud Montains, Antarctica University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Graduate School of Oceanography Publications 1990 The ominionD Range Ice Core, Queen Maud Montains, Antarctica - General Site and Core Characteristics with Implications Paul A. Mayewski Mark S. Twickler See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs Terms of Use All rights reserved under copyright. Citation/Publisher Attribution Mayewski, P., Twickler, M., Lyons, W., Spencer, M., Meese, D., Gow, A., . Saltzman, E. (1990). The ominionD Range Ice Core, Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica - General Site and Core Characteristics with Implications. Journal of Glaciology, 36(122), 11-16. doi:10.3189/S0022143000005499 Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/S0022143000005499 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School of Oceanography at DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Paul A. Mayewski, Mark S. Twickler, Wm Berry Lyons, Mary Jo Spencer, Debra A. Meese, Anthony J. Gow, Pieter Grootes, Todd Sowers, M. Scott aW tson, and Eric Saltzman This article is available at DigitalCommons@URI: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/191 loumal oJ Glaciology, Vol. 36, No. 122, 1990 THE DOMINION RANGE ICE CORE, QUEEN MAUD MOUNTAINS, ANTARCTICA - GENERAL SITE AND CORE CHARACTERISTICS WITH IMPLICATIONS By PAUL A. MAYEWSKI, MARK S. TWICKLER, WM BERRY LYONS, MARY Jo SPENCER, (Glacier Research Group, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space (EOS), University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, U.S.A.) DEBRA A. MEESE, (Glacier Research Group, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space (EOS), University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, U.S.A., and U .S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, U.S.A.) ANTHONY J. Gow, (U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, U.S.A.) PIETER GROOTES, (Quaternary Isotope Laboratory, University of Washington, Seatt1e, Washington 98195, U.S.A.) TODD SOWERS, (Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882, U .S.A.) M. SCOTT WATSON, (Polar Ice Coring Office, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68558, U.S.A.) and ERIC SALTZMAN (Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33149, U.S.A.) ABSTRACT. The Transa ntarctic Mountains of East they could provide some of the most climatically sensi ti ve Antarctica prov id e a ne w milieu for retrieval of ice-core records available from Antarctica. Furthermore, unlike records. We report here on the initial findings from the those ice cores retrieved from the interior of Antarctica, first of these records, the Dominion Range ice-core record. there are terrestrial records from nearby sites that can be Sites s uch as the Do minion Range are val uable for the used for comparison (e.g. De nto n and others, 1971; Drewry, recover y of records detailing climate change, volcanic 1980; Stuiver and others, 1981; Mayewski and Goldthwait, activity, and changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere. 1985). The unique geographic location of this si te and a relatively The Dominion Range (Fig. I) is th e first in a series of low accumulation rate combine to provide a relatively long planned Transa ntarctic Mountains ice-core sites (Fig. I). The record of change for this potentially sensitive climatic Dominion Range is located a long the edge of the East region. As such, information concerning the s ite a nd general Antarctic ice sheet, approximate ly 500 km from the South core characteristics are p resented, including ice surface, ice Pole and 120 km from the Ross Ice Shelf, at the confluence thickness, bore-hol e temperature, mean annual net accumu­ of Beardmore and Mill Glaciers (Fig. 2). These glaciers, lation, crystal size , crystal fabric, oxygen- isotope composi­ along with several other outl et glaciers in th e Queen Maud tion , and examples of ice c hemistry and isotopic Mountains (sub-sector of the Transa ntarctic Mountains), composition of trapped gases. drain the Titan Dome area o f the East Antarctic ice sheet. Approximately half of the Dominion Range (Fig. 2) is ice­ free and the average elevation of the range is 2700 m. INTRODUCTION Between 20 November and 14 December 1984, a tent camp was operated in the Dominion Range. Due to logistic Localized accumulation basins in the Transantarctic restraints, all aspects of the stud y, including reconnaissance, Mountains, fed completely by precipitation on to the site, site characterization, and recovery of a 20 I m core were provide a new avenue for Antarctic ice-core research. These undertaken in the same field season. In this paper we sites are valuable fo r the recovery of records detailing present the results of site and core c haracterization, climatic change, volcanic acti vit y, and changes in specifically ice surface and ice thickness, bore-hole temp­ atmospheric chemistry for periods extending well into the erature, mean annual net accumulation, crystal size, crystal last glacial period. Since these si tes are located within the fabric, oxygen-isotope composition, and examples of ice transitional zone between platea u ice and ocean-ice shelf, chemistry (C 1-, SO;-, MSA), and isotopic composition of trapped gases. 1I Joum al of Glaciology s.p. 85· 5 ICE-SURFACE AN D ICE-THICKNESS MEASUREMENTS The early part of the field seaso n was devoted to establishing an optimum site for recovery of an ice core (Fig. 2). Maps, visual obser vations of ice-surface topo­ REE DY GLACIER/ graphy, and the presence of bedroc k ridges all validated initial es timates that the Do minion Range ice cover is either entirely separated from or only minimall y connected to the 80·5 East Antarctic ice sheet and he nce the site is a catchment for local precipitation. E xposed bed roc k ridges flanking the Dominion Range are caverno usly wea th ered . Compariso n of ROSS ICE SHELF the degree of cavernous weathering with tha t examined in the gene ra l region of the Quee n Maud Mountains by Mayewski and Goldthwait ( 1985 ) sugges ts that ice has not topped these ridges for a t least several tens of thousands of Q years. .. J ", SOU THE RN VIC TOR I A Based on an examina tion of USGS (I: 250 000) LAN D topographic maps and a radio echo-sounding survey TAYLOR VAL LE Y conducted in th e field , the Dominion Range ice mass is ROSS SEA WR IGH T VA LLEY divisible into three major drainage bas ins, referred to as A, B, and C (Fig. 2). The radio- ec ho survey employed a ~ ICE-F REE AREAS mono- pulse sys tem (after Watts and Isherwood , 19 78) and was cente red primaril y ove r draina ge basin C. It included measurements at 42 statio ns, ten of which were occupied at least twice to test in strume nt reproducibility, which proved to be less than the e rror inherent in reading the oscilloscope. Final ice-thic kness measurements were deter­ mined using Watts and Ishe rwood's (1978) re lationship with adjustme nts for density made usin g measurements from the core. C revassed areas in the southern section of basin C, lower Vandament Glac ie r, pre vented th e recovery of use ful o 300 600 I I radio echo - sounding data fro m this area. Scale (km) Drainage bas in C surface topography (Fig. 3) is characte rized by a ge ne ral surface slope to the east, thus Fig. J. Localioll map. Beardmore Glacier Glacier w -0 ~ o 1.6 km o co ~ • RadiO Echo Sounding Stollon ® Outer Limits of Radio Echo f> Sound ln9 Survey • Du ll Sile Ice Su rf ace Contours App rollimate loco lion of C-A DroinoQe Divide (Set fiQute 2) Esllmo t ed Su rface flo wllnes @--(9 Von do menl Gtacler Flowl lne (see FIQu re 2) Fig. 3. Drainage basill C ice surface . N the maj or part of the dra inage fo r C discharges through Vandament Glacier. Ice thic knesses in basin C (Fig. 4) range from ~350 to <50 m with the thickest a reas north of '--------' the drill site and in the Mount Tenn ant a rea. Thinner ice ~ 5km areas are found in the western part of the bas in close to the C-A surface ice divide, and th e remainde r of the bas in is characterized by ice d epths most commonly in the range CD Vandament Glaci er Approximate Outline of Relatively Ice Free Terrein 200-300 m. The genera l gradient of the subglac ial ® Koski Glacier topography is east-south-east. Estimated Drainage Di vides @ Rutkowski Glac ier The core site (see Figs 2,3, and 4) was chosen ~1. 7 km AIB,e Ora inage Basins down-flow line from the C-A ice divide to minimize Generalized Surface Flowlines complications due to flo w ri g ht on the divide and ~I. 7 km ® Mt. Tennent Drill Site up-slope from the base camp to minimize the effects of @ Kane Ro cks Outer lim its of Radio Echo any local chemical contamination from the camp. Although © MI. Mills Sounding Sur vey it ca nnot be demonstrated definitive ly with the data @ Mt. Sanders available, it appears that if any East Antarctic ice penetrates ® MI. Ni mrod drainage basin C from the Mount Tennant area that this ice would be deflected eastward toward Vandament Glacier and hence away from the drill site.
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