Age–depth distribution in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and Antarctic-wide comparisons of internal reflection horizons

Franke, Steven; Steinhage, Daniel; Helm, Veit; Zuhr, Alexandra M.; Bodart, Julien A.; Eisen, Olaf; Bons, Paul

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1153-2025

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1153-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1153-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 3

Research article

|

13 Mar 2025

Research article |

| 13 Mar 2025

Age–depth distribution in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and Antarctic-wide comparisons of internal reflection horizons

Steven Franke, Daniel Steinhage, Veit Helm, Alexandra M. Zuhr, Julien A. Bodart, Olaf Eisen, and Paul Bons

Data sets

Internal Reflection Horizons (IRHs) in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica from airborne radar surveys (4.8 - 91.0 ka) Steven Franke et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.973266

The Antarctic ice core chronology (AICC2023) Marie Bouchet et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.961019

Phase-Based Antarctica Ice Velocity Map Jeremie Mouginot et al. https://doi.org/10.7280/D10D4Z

Four decades of Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance from 1979-2017 (http://imbie.org/imbie-3/drainage-basins/) E. Rignot et al. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812883116

MEaSUREs BedMachine Antarctica. (NSIDC-0756, Version 3) M. Morlighem https://doi.org/10.5067/FPSU0V1MWUB6

The Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica - Mosaics, Version 2 Ian Howat et al. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EBW8UC

Monthly RACMO2.4p1 data for Greenland (11 km) and Antarctica (27 km) for SMB, SEB, near-surface temperature and wind speed (2006–2015) C. Van Dalum et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10854319

Short summary

The study presents internal reflection horizons (IRHs) over an area of 450 000 km² from western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, spanning 4.8–91 ka. Using radar and ice core data, nine IRHs were dated and correlated with volcanic events. The data enhance our understanding of the ice sheet's age–depth architecture, accumulation, and dynamics. The findings inform ice flow models and contribute to Antarctic-wide comparisons of IRHs, supporting efforts toward a 3D age–depth ice sheet model.