The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
24 Aug 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 24 Aug 2023

Stagnant ice and age modelling in the Dome C region, Antarctica

Ailsa Chung, Frédéric Parrenin, Daniel Steinhage, Robert Mulvaney, Carlos Martín, Marie G. P. Cavitte, David A. Lilien, Veit Helm, Drew Taylor, Prasad Gogineni, Catherine Ritz, Massimo Frezzotti, Charles O'Neill, Heinrich Miller, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, and Olaf Eisen

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3461-2023-supplement

Data sets

Ice-penetrating radar internal stratigraphy over Dome C and the wider East Antarctic Plateau M. G. P. Cavitte, D. A. Young, R. Mulvaney, C. Ritz, J. Greenbaum, G. Ng, S. D. Kempf, E. Quartini, G. R. Muldoon, J. Paden, M. Frezzotti, J. Roberts, C. Tozer, D. Schroeder, and D. D. Blankenship https://doi.org/10.15784/601411

Deep glacial troughs and stabilizing ridges unveiled beneath the margins of the Antarctic ice sheet (https://nsidc.org/data/NSIDC-0756/versions/3) M. Morlighem, E. Rignot, T. Binder, D. Blankenship, R. Drews, G. Eagles, O. Eisen, F. Ferraccioli, R. Forsberg, P. Fretwell, V. Goel, J. S. Greenbaum, H. Gudmundsson, J. Guo, V. Helm, C. Hofstede, I. Howat, A. Humbert, W. Jokat, N. B. Karlsson, W. S. Lee, K. Matsuoka, R. Millan, J. Mouginot, J. Paden, F. Pattyn, J. Roberts, S. Rosier, A. Ruppel, H. Seroussi, E. C. Smith, D. Steinhage, B. Sun, M. Broeke, T. D. Ommen, M. V. Wessem, and D. A. Young https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0510-8

The Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (https://www.pgc.umn.edu/data/rema/) I. M. Howat, C. Porter, B. E. Smith, M.-J. Noh, and P. Morin https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-665-2019

Internal reflecting horizons at Little Dome C Ailsa Chung, Frédéric Parrenin, Daniel Steinhage, Rob; Mulvaney, Carlos Martìn, Marie G. P. Cavitte, David A. Lilien, Veit Helm, Drew Taylor, Prasad Gogineni, Catherine Ritz, Massimo Frezzotti, Charles O'Neill, Heinrich Miller, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, and Olaf Eisen https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.957176

Internal reflecting horizons in the Dome C region of Antarctica Robert Mulvaney et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.963470

Modelled age-depth profiles of two ice core drill sites on Little Dome C, Antarctica Ailsa Chung et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.966738

Model code and software

ailsachung/IsoInv1D: IsoInv1D (Version IsoInv1D) Ailsa Chung and Frédéric Parrenin https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8189792

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Co-editor-in-chief
Oldest Ice is a large project with broad interest and appealing targets. This study shows (i) that the current Beyond EPICA and Million Year Ice Core drilling projects at Little Dome C in Antarctica are expected to extract continuous ice core of almost 1.5 million years; and (ii) estimates the spatial extent of a stagnant ice layer in the Dome C region. This layer of ice could be millions of years old and could have large scale implications for the whole Antarctic ice sheet dynamics.
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Short summary
We combined a numerical model with radar measurements in order to determine the age of ice in the Dome C region of Antarctica. Our results show that at the current ice core drilling sites on Little Dome C, the maximum age of the ice is almost 1.5 Ma. We also highlight a new potential drill site called North Patch with ice up to 2 Ma. Finally, we explore the nature of a stagnant ice layer at the base of the ice sheet which has been independently observed and modelled but is not well understood.
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Special issue
Oldest Ice: finding and interpreting climate proxies in ice...