A novel ice-core laser melting sampler for discrete, sub-centimeter
depth-resolved analyses of stable water isotopes
Abstract
We developed a novel ice-core laser melting sampler (LMS) to measure the
stable water isotope ratios (δ18O and δD) as temperature proxies at
ultra-high depth resolutions. In this LMS system, a 2-mm diameter
movable evacuation nozzle holds an optical fiber through which a laser
beam irradiates the ice core. The movable nozzle intrudes into the ice
core, the laser radiation meanwhile melting the ice cylindrically, and
the meltwater is pumped away simultaneously through the same nozzle and
transferred to a vial for analysis. To avoid isotopic fractionation of
the ice-core components by vaporization, the laser power is adjusted to
ensure that the temperature of the meltwater is always kept well below
its boiling point. Internal contamination and cross-contamination were
both found to be negligible using this LMS. A segment of a Dome Fuji
shallow ice core (Antarctica), using the LMS, was then demonstrated to
have been discretely sampled with a depth-resolution as small as 3 mm:
subsequent measurements of δ18O and δD were reasonably consistent with
results obtained by hand segmentation. The LMS will thus enable us to
seek the past temperature variations that may appear even in
sub-centimeter resolutions in ice cores.