Preliminary results of ice radar investigation along the traverse between Zhongshan and Dome A in East Antarctic ice sheet: Ice thickness and subglacial topography

During the 24th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 24, 2007/08), a ground-based ice radar was used to survey ice thickness and subglacial topography along the 1170 km traverse between Zhongshan and Dome A in East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS). Ice-bedrock interface was detected along 82% of the traverse and data was collected at a horizontal resolution of <5.6 m. The data was processed to produce curves of ice thickness distribution and subglacial topography along the traverse. The results indicate that, along the traverse, the average ice thickness is 2037 m, smaller than the average ice thickness in EAIS; the thickest ice is at 730 km, and the thinnest ice (891 m) is at the edge of the ice sheet, but the slightly larger ice thickness (1078 m) in inland appears at 1020 km; the average subglacial topography elevation is 728 m, greatly larger than the average value in EAIS, and the largest elevation reaches up to 2650 m at 1034 km. The lowest terrain is located at 765 km. In further inland of 900–1170 km, the subglacial topography is relatively high due to the existence of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in the region. Generally, the influence of subglacial topography on ice surface is not significant, except at 900 km where great rise of subglacial topography causes evident uplift of ice surface. Where ice-bedrock interface was detected, the frequent and strong change of ice thickness and subglacial topography in small-scale means large bedrock roughness along the traverse, and is considered as the result of the integrated influence of ice flow, basal environments and geology. The segment where bedrock was not detected has very large ice thickness. The strong ice flow there also makes internal structure more complicated and induces serious attenuation of radar signals.     

New focuses of polar ice-core study: NEEM and Dome A

Ice core records from polar regions are of great value to study long-term climate and environmental change. Greenland ice-core records are celebrated for their high resolution and have provided very important knowledge for understanding the late Quaternary palaeoclimate, especially in reference to millennial-scale abrupt climatic flips during the last glaciation. Recently, a new project to retrieve a deep ice-core from Greenland known as NEEM for North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling, has been launched with the main target being the last interglacial period. The new core will help us understand further details of climate changes during a period of warmth as the present. Antarctic ice cores have a unique advantage in providing recovery of longer time-scale paleclimate information and hence are regarded as a crucial pillar to examine climatic cycles on the time-scale of Earth-orbital phenomena. Since the bottom ice in Dome A is estimated to be older than a million years, a deep drilling there becomes a new focus for ice core studies. Supported by Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX2-SW-354) and National Key Technology Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2006BAB18B01)     

Recent accumulation rate at Dome A, Antarctica

Based on the horizon of β activity and the density profiles, recent accumulation rate at Dome A, Ant-arctica is calculated to be 0.023 m water equivalent per year. This value is comparative to the accumu-lation rates deduced from the other inland sites of Antarctica. Clear-sky precipitation (or diamond dust) dominates the total precipitation at Dome A region. We speculate Dome A as a potential site to discover the oldest ice in Antarctica due to its tremendous ice thickness (>3000 m), extremely low accumulation rate, and low ice velocity.     

Preliminary evidence indicating Dome A （Antarctica） satisfying preconditions for drilling the oldest ice core

Lowest temperature and snow accumulation rate are preconditions for retrieving the oldest ice core from the polar ice sheets. The 10-m depth firn temperature at Dome A, the summit of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, recorded by an automatic weather station （AWS） was -58.3℃ in 2005 and -58.2℃ in 2006, respectively. The 10-m firn temperature is an approximation of the annual mean air temperature （AMAT）, and this is the lowest AMAT that has been recorded on the surface of the Earth. The stable isotopic ratios （δ^18O and δD） of surface snow at Dome A are also lower than at other ice sheet domes along the East Antarctic Ice Divide such as Dome C, Dome F, Dome B and Vostok. These facts indicate that Dome A is the ＂pole of cold＂ on the Earth. The total amount of snow accumulation rate in 2005 and 2006 was only 0.16 cm, equaling 0.016 m water equivalent per year, the lowest precipitation ever recorded from Antarctica. Preliminary evidences indicate that Dome A is a candidate site for recovering the oldest ice core.     

Accumulation and temperature changes in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica in the past 250 years

A 50 m firn core drilled in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica, during the 1996/1997 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Expedition, has been measured for б18O and major ions. Based on these data, the features of the climate change in the investigated region in the past 250 years have first been studied. In the past 250 years, the change trend of climate in this region can be divided into two periods by the year 1860. Both the temperature and accumulation rate display increasing trend before 1860, while after 1860, the decreasing trend of the temperature is obvious but the change of the accumulation rate is not clear. Although both the temperature and the accumulation rate are increasing in the past 50 years, they are not the highest values in the past 250 years. So it is clear that the climate change in this region during this period does not reflect recent global wanning.     

深海氧同位素第5阶段的气候记录:武都黄土剖面与极地冰心、深海沉积同位素记录的对比

武都地区晚更新世以来堆积了厚约１７ｍ的黄土地层，其间夹有多层厚度不一、发育程度不同的古土壤层．在剖面１３．２～１７ｍ黄土中，野外可清晰的观察到６层古土壤．通过剖面磁化率、粒度、稳定同位素、元素地球化学、ＴＬ年代、ＣａＣＯ３、有机质含量的综合分析，认为它敏感而详尽地记录了深海氧同位素第５阶段的气候变化历史．对比研究结果显示：除总体模型与中国中西部黄土高原、深海氧同位素及南极冰心记录一致外，还可以与格陵兰Ｓｕｍｍｉｔ冰心记录进行良好的细节对比，揭示了全球气候变化地质记录的统一性．     

Analyses on the air and snow temperatures near ground with observations of an AWS at Dome A, the summit of Antarctic Plateau

As the summit of the Antarctic Plateau, Dome A has been received international attentions.In this paper, observational data of an automatic weather station (AWS) at Dome A in 2005–2007 were used to analyze the seasonal variations of air temperatures near the ground and snow temperatures within a depth of 10 m. Analyses on the air temperatures show a typical feature of the coreless winter, and strong inversion maintains during the long winter. Accordingly the stratification near the ground is dominated by th...     

Organic acids: Differences in ice core records between Glacier 1, Tianshan, China and the polar areas

Formate (HCOO-), acetate (CH₃COO-), oxalate (C₂O₄^2-) and pyruvate ((CO)C₂O₄^2-) are detected in a 14.08-m-long ice core recovered in Glacier 1 at the Urumqi riverhead, Tianshan, China, which is a mid-latitude alpine glacier (43°06′N, 86°49′E). the mean concentrations for the four organic acids in recent four decades are (102.8±147.3), (392.3±390.8), (6.9±14.8) and (4.2±8.3) ng/g, respectively, with the ratio for HCOO^-/CH₃COO^- of 0.34 ± 0.43. They represent the major acid components, and originate mainly from anthropogenic emission in the nearby industrial cities. Compared with Greenland and Antarctica, Glacier 1 is much higher in carboxylic acids, which were not subjected to long distance transportation as well as complicated atmospheric reactions. The alpine glacier can be, therefore, useful to reconstructing human pollution scenario to the regional atmosphere.     

高空浮尘对高海拔山地冰川物质平衡的影响——以西昆仑山崇测冰帽为例

西昆仑山位于塔克拉玛干沙漠南缘.从海拔6530m钻取的崇测冰帽冰芯发现,20世纪90年代前的60多年间,沙尘沉积和年积累率存在着一致的下降性趋势变化.结合对沙尘源地、沙尘输送路径及其沉积特征的调查研究,分析源——汇的诸多影响因素,探讨影响高海拔地区降水的主导过程,结果表明:1)在高海拔地区,尘埃可能比低海拔地区对降水起着更为重要的作用,这种作用主要是通过凝结核数量的变化发生的;2)在高海拔地区降水形成过程中,悬浮的尘埃数量会直接影响凝结核的数量;3)对于塔克拉玛干沙漠周边这样的干旱环境,大气水汽供应在高海拔地区相对更为充分些,因此与低海拔地区相比,高海拔山地冰川上的降水过程对大气尘埃微粒浓度的变化似乎更为敏感; 4)在沙漠及其周边地区的盛行气候条件下,冰川冰雪积累呈现出逐渐减少的趋势,与沙漠地区气候和环境变化密切相关——过去几十年间塔克拉玛干低海拔区降水增加,沙尘减少;5)这种行将持续的趋势可能会通过大气尘埃的变化继续影响高海拔冰川的物质平衡.本研究的这一发现可能从一个侧面揭示了一些地区性冰川变化的原因,如中亚地区持续了几十年的冰川消退现象.     

Planar Velocity Distribution of Viscous Debris Flow at Jiangjia Ravine, Yunnan, China： A Field Measurement Using Two Radar Velocimeters

Characteristics of planar velocity distribution of viscous debris flow were analyzed using the measured data at Jiangjia Ravine, Yunnan, China. The velocity data were measured through using two radar velocimeters. The cross-sectional mean velocities were calculated and used to examine Kang et al＇s （2004） relationship, which was established for converting the flow velocity at river centerline measured by a radar velocimeter into the mean velocity based on the stop-watch method. The velocity coefficient, K, defined by the ratio of the mean velocity to the maximum velocity, ranges from 0.2 to 0.6. Kang et al＇s （2004） relationship was found being inapplicable to flows with K smaller than 0.43. This paper contributes to show the complexity of the planar velocity distribution of viscous debris flows and the applicability of Kang et al＇s relationship.