Signal formation in snow and firn: Combining surface topography data and stable water isotopes


Contact
alexandra.zuhr [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

Ice sheets represent one of the main reservoirs in the global climate system archiving information on past climatic conditions. The isotopic composition of stable water isotopes of ice sheets can be used as a temperature proxy and allows the reconstruction of past climates. However, measured isotopic compositions from precipitation differ strongly from surface snow samples. Thus, non-climatic effects (e.g. wind-redistribution) alter the isotopic composition after the deposition. In order to investigate the evolution of the isotopic composition in the upper firn layer (top 10cm) we carried out a comprehensive sampling scheme along a 40m transect throughout the full season at the deep drilling site in North-East Greenland, EastGRIP. Additionally, we tracked snow accumulation with a new method using daily photos to develop elevation models of the snow surface. The evolution of the isotopic composition from the precipitation via the deposition on the snow to the upper firn layer together with information on changes in topography (i.e. the net accumulation based on the photos) allow us to investigate possible relations between these parameters. Complementing this new data set with data from the previous seasons, we aim to investigate the evolution of this temperature proxy with depth and time.



Item Type
Conference (Talk)
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Divisions
Primary Division
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Publication Status
Published
Event Details
Steering Committee East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EGRIP), 12 Nov 2018 - 16 Nov 2018, Kopenhagen, Denmark.
Eprint ID
48649
Cite as
Zuhr, A. , Hörhold, M. , Steen-Larsen, H. C. , Münch, T. , Kipfstuhl, S. and Laepple, T. (2018): Signal formation in snow and firn: Combining surface topography data and stable water isotopes , Steering Committee East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EGRIP), Kopenhagen, Denmark, 12 November 2018 - 16 November 2018 .


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Funded by
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/716092


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