An Age Scale for the First Shallow (Sub-)Antarctic Ice Core from Young Island, Northwest Ross Sea

Abstract

The climate of the sub-Antarctic is important in understanding the environmental conditions of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. However, regional climate proxy records from this region are scarce. In this study, we present the stable water isotopes, major ion chemistry, and dust records from the first ice core from the (sub-)Antarctic Young Island. We present and discuss various dating approaches based on commonly used ice core proxies, such as stable water isotopes and seasonally deposited ions, together with site-specific characteristics such as melt layers. The dating approaches are compared with estimated precipitation rates from reanalysis data (ERA5) and volcanic cryptotephra shards likely presenting an absolute tie point from a 2001 CE eruption on neighboring Sturge Island. The resulting ice core age scale spans the period 2016 to 1995, with an uncertainty of ±2 years.

Keywords

• age scale
• (sub-)Antarctic island
• shallow ice core
• proxies
• melting