Article
 

Ice stratigraphy at the Pakitsoq ice margin, West Greenland, derived from gas records

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/ng451k10n

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • Horizontal ice-core sites, where ancient ice is exposed at the glacier surface, offer unique opportunities for paleo-studies of trace components requiring large sample volumes. Following previous work at the Pâkitsoq ice margin in West Greenland, we use a combination of geochemical parameters measured in the ice matrix (δ¹⁸O[subscript ice]) and air occlusions (δ¹⁸O[subscript atm], δ¹⁵N of N₂ and methane concentration) to date ice layers from specific climatic intervals. The data presented here expand our understanding of the stratigraphy and three-dimensional structure of ice layers outcropping at Pâkitsoq. Sections containing ice from every distinct climatic interval during Termination I, including Last Glacial Maximum, Bølling/Allerød, Younger Dryas and the early Holocene, are identified. In the early Holocene, we find evidence for climatic fluctuations similar to signals found in deep ice cores from Greenland. A second glacial-interglacial transition exposed at the extreme margin of the ice is identified as another outcrop of Termination I (rather than the onset of the Eemian interglacial as postulated in earlier work). Consequently, the main structural feature at Pâkitsoq is a large-scale anticline with accordion-type folding in both exposed sequences of the glacial-Holocene transition, leading to multiple layer duplications and age reversals.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Schaefer, H., Petrenko, V. V., Brook, E. J., Severinghaus, J. P., Reeh, N., Melton, J. R., & Mitchell, L. (2009, June). Ice stratigraphy at the Pâkitsoq ice margin, West Greenland, derived from gas records. Journal of Glaciology, 55(191), 411-421. doi:10.3189/002214309788816704
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 55
Journal Issue/Number
  • 191
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • We thank the Danish Polar Center and Greenland Home Rule for permission to carry out this research. This work was funded by US National Science Foundation grants OPP0221470 (J.P.S.) and OPP0221410 (E.J.B.), by a Packard Fellowship (J.P.S.), Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences grant MAMMOTH (J.R.M.), American Chemical Society grant PRF 42551-AC2 (H.S. and E.J.B.) and by Danish Research Council grant 21-02-0504 (N.R.).
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details BrookEdwardCEOASIceStratigraphyPakitsoq.pdf 2017-07-21 Public Download