US International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (US ITASE) Glaciochemical Data

Data Contributors DIXON, DANIEL A. MAYEWSKI, PAUL A. Parameters IONS SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT SNOW/ICE CHEMISTRY Instruments CORING DEVICES

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Sub-annually resolved ice core chemistry data from various sites on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) were obtained from 1999 to 2001 during the US International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (US ITASE) deployments. Researchers gathered data within the range of 76.0968° S to 90.0000° S and 0.0000° W to 148.7900° W and conducted experiments every 100 km looking for clues representing climatic conditions over the past 200 years. Ice cores, obtained for the glaciochemical component of the US ITASE research, were analyzed for soluble major ion content in order to determine the relationship between depth and the age of the upper ~60 m of firn (older snow pack that has been subjected to compaction and evaporation). At each core/pit site, a 7.6 cm ice core was drilled to a depth between 50 m and 70 m. High-resolution chemical analysis requiring 30 to 50 measurements per meter was used to define each core-chemistry year based on peaks in Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, NH₄⁺, Cl^-, NO₃^-, SO₄^2- (sea salt and non-sea salt), and CH₃SO₃^- (methylsulfonate). Extreme events such as volcanic eruptions provide absolute age horizons within each core that are easily identified in chemical profiles. Such chemical analysis is also useful for quantifying anthropogenic impact and biogeochemical cycling. In addition, snow accumulation rates reported as snow water equivalent (SWE) provided valuable information on ice sheet mass balance, sea level rise, and overall climate variability.

This data set currently contains Na⁺, Cl^-, SO₄^2-, sea salt SO₄^2-(ssSO4), non-sea salt SO₄^2-(nssSO4), and SWE measurements. The remaining ion data will be released as they are published. Core-chemistry tab-delimited text files, an accumulation rate Excel file, an Antarctic location map (GIF format), and a table of information for each core (GIF format) are available via FTP.

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Sample Location Map

See Also

• Ice Thickness and Internal Layer Depth Along the 2001 and 2002 US ITASE Traverses
• US International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (US ITASE): GPR Profiles and Accumulation Mapping
• US International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition 400 MHz Subsurface Radar Profiles
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