Dating of Ross Ice Shelf Cores by Chemical Analysis

Abstract

Seasonal variations in sodium concentrations have been measured on surface-pit snow samples and on firn and ice core samples from the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Site locations include J-9 (82° 22’ S., 168° 40’ W.), Roosevelt Island dome (79° 22’ S, 161° 40’ W), C-7-1 (78° 30’ S., 177° 00’ W.), and C-7-3 (78° 20’S., 179° 51’ E.). The predominant source for the Na is sea salt, indicated by greater concentration levels at seaward sites. Al concentrations of the order of only 10^–9g/g show that the input of continental dust is comparable to that at inland Antarctic locations, and that dust contributes only a negligibly small fraction of the Na on the shelf. Maximum Na concentrations occur in the winter or early spring, as is the case for Greenland ice. The annual accumulation-rate at J-9, determined by counting Na concentration peaks with depth, is 90 kg m^–2year^–1, in agreement with rates determined radiometrically. Annual cycles in Na concentration are also detectable at depth in the J-9 ice core. It is suggested that Na concentration is a useful diagnostic criterion for distinguishing between East Antarctic ice (10^–8g Na/g), West Antarctic ice (30 × 10^–9g Na/g), and ice that fell as snow on the shelf itself (> 30 × 10^–9g Na/g). The transition between snow that is chemically characteristic of the ice-shelf regime to snow of an inland regime is expected to occur near the 500 m elevation contour. This position is up to 200 km inland of the grounding line. A model is presented for the large-scale decrease in Na concentration with distance inland within the ice-shelf regime. Since deeper ice in Ross Ice Shelf cores originated generally further from the ocean, the up-stream origin of shelf ice may be estimated from the chemical profile. The Little America V ice-core chemistry profile shows no discontinuity as would be expected if a recent surge of West Antarctic ice had occurred.