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

作　　者：XIAO CunDe LI YuanSheng HOU ShuGui lan ALLISON BIAN LinGen REN JiaWen 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China [2]Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China [3]Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200129, China [4]Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, Tasmania, 7001, Australia

出　　处：《Chinese Science Bulletin》2008年第1期102-106,共5页

基　　金：the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40620120112 and 40776002);Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX-SW-354);the Hundred-Talent Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences

摘　　要：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, re-spectively. 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 δ D) 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.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.

关 键 词：南极 冰层 温度 雪堆积 MPT 

分 类 号：P941.61[天文地球—自然地理学]