A stratigraphic link across 1100 km of the antarctic ice sheet between the Vostok ice-core site and Titan Dome (near South Pole)

Abstract

Isochronous internal ice-sheet layering, measured from airborne 60 MHz radar, was traced between Lake Vostok and the Titan Ice Dome (100 km from South Pole Station), Antarctica. Three layers were selected between Ridge B and Titan Dome, and between Ridge B and Lake Vostok. This layering can be used to correlate the existing Vostok ice core across 1100 km of the ice sheet interior. Our correlation is also matched to the new EPICA ice-core site, by using an existing radar link between Vostok and Dome C stations. Thus, three East Antarctic ice domes are linked stratigraphically for the first time through internal ice-sheet radar layering. Our results indicate that the basal layers of ice at Titan Dome are around 165,000 years old suggesting that this location and, by inference, the South Pole Station, are prime sites for a high-resolution ice core from the last glacial-interglacial cycle.