Behavior of air molecules in polar ice sheets (review)

Ancient atmospheric gases are trapped in polar ice sheets. The gas molecules are stored in air bubbles at shallower depth. The air bubbles are gradually compressed with depth and begin to transform into clathrate hydrates below a level at which the hydrostatic pressure becomes greater than the formation pressure of the phase of air clathrate hydrate. Air bubbles and clathrate hydrates coexist in the deep ice over a long period of time. Significant gas fractionations during the transition process have been found from measurements of the depth profile of the N2/O2 composition ratios in clathrate hydrates and air bubbles in the Dome-Fuji ice and the Vostok ice. Analyzing the molecular diffusion process in ice, the gas fractionation is attributed to a larger mass flux of O2 molecules from air bubbles to clathrate hydrates through the ice matrix than that of N2. We review the process of gas fractionation caused by the formation of clathrate hydrates in polar ice sheets

Average time scale for Dome Fuji ice core, East Antarctica

Three different approaches to ice-core age dating are employed to develop a depth-age relationship at Dome F: (1) correlation of the ice-core isotope record to the geophysical metronome(Milankovich surface temperature cycle) inferred from the deep borehole temperature profile at Vostok,(2) importing a known chronology from another(Devils Hole) paleoclimatic signal, and(3) direct ice sheet flow modeling. Inverse Monte Carlo sampling is used to constrain the accumulation rate reconstruction and ice flow simulations in order to find the best-fit glaciological time scale matched with the two other chronologies. General uncertainty of the different age estimates varies from 2 to 6kyr on average and reaches 6-14kyr at maximum. Whatever the causes of this discrepancy might be, they are thought to be of different origins, and the age errors are assumed to be independent. Thus, the average time scale for the Dome F ice core down to a depth of 2500m(ice age of 335kyr) is deduced consistently with all three age-depth relationships within the standard deviation limits of ±3.3kyr, and its accuracy is estimated as 1.4kyr on average. The constrained ice-sheet flow model allows extrapolation of the ice age-depth curve further to the glacier bottom and predicts the ages at depths of 2800, 3000, and 3050m to be 615±70, 1560±531, and 2985±1568kyr, respectively

Mechanical anisotropy of deep ice core samples by uniaxial compression tests (scientific paper)

Mechanical anisotropy of ice core samples has been observed in various uniaxial compression tests. The c-axis orientation distribution is the primary influence on the mechanical behavior of ice cores. A strong single-maximum fabric pattern is observed in the deep parts of the ice sheet. In this region, polycrystalline ice is very hard along the vertical axis; however, it easily shears along the horizontal plane. Thus, by acquiring the distribution of c-axis orientations throughout the ice sheet, the mechanical anisotropy of ice sheet flow behavior can be understood. Analysis of fabric measurements on the Dye 3, GRIP, and Dome F ice cores suggests that the c-axis orientation distribution depends primarily on vertical strain. Therefore, if the ice thickness at some point in the ice sheet is known, it should be possible to predict the distribution of c-axis orientations at that depth. Uniaxial compression tests were carried out along various directions of the Dye 3, GRIP, and Dome F ice cores. A contour map of mechanical anisotropy was then made to relate the compression direction to the vertical strain. This clarified the flow enhancement factor in every compression direction at a given vertical strain

Crystal Growth of air hydrate and resulting air diffusion in deep ice sheet

第2回極域科学シンポジウム　氷床コアセッション 11月16日（水） 国立極地研究所 2階大会議

X-ray diffraction study on the structure of the ice of the Dome Fuji ice core

第2回極域科学シンポジウム　氷床コアセッション 11月16日（水） 国立極地研究所 2階大会議

Estimation of annual layer thickness from stratigraphical analysis of Dome Fuji deep ice core

Dating of ice cores is of important but is difficult for an ice core where there is low snow accumulation, and also for the deep part because seasonal chemical and isotopic signals are not easily preserved due to vapor migration after snow deposition and molecular diffusion in the deep part of ice sheet. In this paper, an attempt to reveal annual layer thickness is conducted on the basis of precise number density measurement of air bubbles and air hydrates. The annual layer thickness from air bubbles and hydrates agrees well with a calculated value within 10-15% at all depths of the 2500 m deep core. The obtained thickness in the interglacial period according to Eemian period in the Greenland ice core was half of the calculated value

Physical properties of the Dome Fuji deep ice core (review)

Recent results of physical analyses of the Dome Fuji ice core are summarized with special attention to new methods introduced in the present studies. Microphysical processes which affect the ice core records are reviewed to better understand the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental signals stored

ダイニキ Dome Fuji ヒョウショウ コア プロジェクト ニ モチイル コウガク ソウイ キロク ソウチ ノ カイハツ

第二期ドームふじ氷床コアプロジェクトの現場解析において,簡便に光学層位を記録するため,専用装置を開発した.この装置は,二次元的な光の散乱強度を氷床コアサンプルの深さ方向に沿って連続的に測定する.我々は,この装置のハードウェアおよび制御ソフトウェアを開発した.この結果,経験のないオペレーターでも容易に測定可能な,自動測定装置が完成した.測定速度は5mm/sを想定しており,この場合,現場処理解析の基本長である1.5mのサンプルを約6分間で測定可能である.この装置は第44次越冬隊が南極ドームふじ観測拠点に搬入し,第45次夏隊から始まる深層コア掘削の現場解析処理に使用される予定である.An optical scanner for stratigraphical study was developed for the Dome Fuji ice core project II. The optical scanner measures two-dimensional light scattering intensities and records optical structures of ice cores. We developed the scanner hardware and control software. The line scanner is controlled by a personal computer and is constructed for automatic measurement. The sliding speed of the scanner is about 5mm per second and, therefore, one ice core sample with a standard length for our sample processes (1.5m long) can be measured within about six minutes. The line scanner was transported to Dome Fuji Station, Antarctica, by the wintering party of the 44th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-44), and will be used for Dome Fuji II ice core measurement by the JARE-45 summer party and successive parties

X-ray diffraction study on the structure of the ice of the NEEM ice core

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第35回極域気水圏シンポジウム 11月29日（木） 国立国語研究所 ２階ロビ