Five millennia of surface temperatures and ice core bubble characteristics from the WAIS Divide deep core, West Antarctica

Abstract

Bubble number densities from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide deep core in West Antarctica record relatively stable temperatures during the middle Holocene followed by late Holocene cooling. We measured bubble number density, shape, size, and arrangement on new samples of the main WAIS Divide deep core WDC06A from -580 m to -1600 depth. The bubble size, shape, and arrangement data confirm that the samples satisfy the requirements for temperature reconstructions. A small correction for cracks formed after core recovery allows extension of earlier work through the "brittle ice" zone, and a site-specific calibration reduces uncertainties. Using an independently constructed accumulation rate history and a steady state bubble number density model, we determined a temperature reconstruction that agrees closely with other independent estimates, showing a stable middle Holocene, followed by a cooling of ~1.25°C in the late Holocene. Over the last -5 millennia, accumulation has been higher during warmer times by -12%°C-1, somewhat stronger than for thermodynamic control alone, suggesting dynamic processes.