Pleistocene ice and paleo-strain rates at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica

Abstract

AbstractIce exposed in ablation zones of ice sheets can be a valuable source of samples for paleoclimate studies and information about long-term ice dynamics. We report a 28-km long stable isotope sampling transect along a flowline on lower Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, and show that ice from the last glacial period is exposed here over tens of kilometers. Gas isotope analyses on a small number of samples confirm our age hypothesis. These chronostratigraphic data contain information about past ice dynamics and in particular should be sensitive to the longitudinal strain rate on the north flank of Taylor Dome, averaged over millennia. The imprint of climatic changes on ice dynamics may be discernible in these data.