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The South Pole ice core (SPICEcore) project
  • +2
  • Joseph Souney,
  • Murat Aydin,
  • Eric Steig,
  • T. Fudge,
  • Mark Twickler
Joseph Souney
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Murat Aydin
University of California Irvine
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Eric Steig
University of Washington
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T. Fudge
Univ Washington
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Mark Twickler
University of New Hampshire Main Campus
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Abstract

The stable isotope, aerosol, and atmospheric gas records in ice cores provide exceptional archives of past climate. Supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Office of Polar Programs – Antarctic Glaciology), a new 1,750-meter long ice core (SPC14) was recovered from South Pole, Antarctica, during the 2014-2015 (0 to 736 m) and 2015-2016 (736 to 1750 m) field seasons. SPC14 is the highest resolution interior East Antarctic ice core that extends into the glacial period. It provides a record of the climate history of a unique area of the East Antarctic plateau that is partially influenced by weather systems that cross the West Antarctic ice sheet. The SPICEcore project also includes novel measurements of ultra-trace level atmospheric gases that are made feasible by the very cold temperatures, low impurity levels, and the relatively high accumulation rate at the South Pole. Preliminary estimates of the timescale suggest that the ice at 1750 meters depth is ~54,000 years in age and therefore the SPICEcore project contributes towards the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS) goal to create a bipolar network of ice core climate and climate forcing records for the last 40,000 years. This presentation provides a high-level overview of the SPICEcore project.