Detailed glaciochemical investigations in southern Victoria Land - a proxy climatic record
Local accumulation-basins in the Transantarctic Mountains possess sites suitable for recovering ice-core records that are valuable for studying climate change. These sites are also unique, because they are close to the sites of other ice-core studies and to areas with established terrestrial records. The objective is to study a snowpit in detail and collect ice cores in southern Victoria Land; this work will be similar to the investigations that the authors has conducted in south Greenland and in the Dominion Range near the Beardmore Glacier. The proposed sites are in Convoy, Asgard, and Royal Society ranges. The authors will select one site at which he will recover two ice cores, each approximately 200 to 300 meters in depth. Samples will be analyzed for major anions (chloride, sulfate, nitrate, fluoride) and cations (sodium, potassium, magnesium, ammonium, silicate), total acidity, conductivity, density, and core stratigraphy with dating provided by cross-calibration of all of the preceding plus total beta-activity, lead-210, oxygen isotopes, and microparticles. This investigation will yield a detailed record of several thousand years of glacial history, climate change, and volcanic activity for southern Victoria Land. This record will be compared to existing terrestrial records to add necessary detail and to other global ice-core records to assess global climatic change. It will also help to document volcanic activity for Mount Erebus as well as other volcanos in the Southern Hemisphere and possibly some in the Northern Hemisphere. With this record, the author will be able to evaluate the influence of volcanic and solar activity on climate as well as add greatly to the understanding of the chemistry of the global atmosphere.
- OSTI ID:
- 6967141
- Journal Information:
- Antarctic Journal of the United States; (USA), Vol. 22:3; ISSN 0003-5335
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ANTARCTICA
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHLORIDES
DENSITY
DEPTH
DRILL CORES
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
FLUORIDES
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GLACIERS
ICE
ISOTOPE DATING
LEAD 210
MAGNESIUM
MOUNTAINS
NITRATES
OXYGEN ISOTOPES
PH VALUE
POTASSIUM
SILICATES
SODIUM
STRATIGRAPHY
SULFATES
VOLCANISM
VOLCANOES
AGE ESTIMATION
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DIMENSIONS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
GEOLOGY
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
METALS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEONTOLOGY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLAR REGIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
580000* - Geosciences