Abstract:
Proposed drill site near the Ross-Amundsen ice divide, West Antarctica
Describes conditions near the Ross-Amundsen ice divide, and discusses candidate
drill sites in context of the science objectives outlined in the lead proposal
for the project. We identify a preferred site for the Western Divide Core
(WDC).
To
... summarize:
- A suite of short (~100m) ice cores extracted during ITASE traverses in
central West Antarctica all show very well preserved records of seasonal
chemistry and recent global-scale volcanic eruptions.
- Sites near the divide with thick ice and moderate accumulation are most
likely to satisfy the science requirements.
- We make use of available geochemical and geophysical data and ice-flow
models to identify a preferred drill site that is 24 km southwest of the
present-day ice divide. Radar-detected internal stratigraphy upstream from the
site is smoothly varying. The combination of thick ice (3465m) and moderate
accumulation (21.5 cm/yr ice equivalent) at the site should produce a core with
stratigraphy that can be resolved annually back to ~44ka BP. Age at 96% depth
(3325m) is expected to be ~112ka BP.
- Co-ordinates for the site are 79.4676 S, 112.0859W, but sites within a
kilometer of this location will likely have equivalent characteristics. 
