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Ice-core net snow accumulation and seasonal snow chemistry at a temperate-glacier site: Mount Waddington, southwest British Columbia, Canada

Literature Reference
Peer Reviewed Literature
Authors

Peter D. NEFF, Eric J. STEIG, Douglas H. CLARK, Joseph R. McCONNELL, Erin C. PETTIT, Brian MENOUNOS

Abstract

A 141 m-long ice core was recovered from Combatant  Col (51.385°N, 125.258°W, 3000 m a.s.l.), Mount Waddington, Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada.  Records of black carbon, dust, lead, and water stable-isotopes demonstrate that unambiguous seasonality is preserved throughout the core, despite summer surface snowmelt and temperate ice. High accumulation rates at the site (in excess of 4 m a-1ice-equivalent) limit modification of annual stratigraphy by percolation of surface meltwater. The ice-core record spans the period 1973-2010.  An annually-averaged time series of lead concentrations from the core correlates well with historical records of lead emission from North America, and with ice core records of lead from the Greenland Ice Sheet.  The depth-age scale for the ice core provides sufficient constraint on the vertical strain to allow estimation of the age of the ice at bedrock.  Total ice thickness at Combatant Col is ca. 250 m; an ice-core to bedrock would likely contain ice in excess of 200 years in age.  Accumulation at Combatant Col is significantly correlated with bothregional precipitation and large-scale geopotential height anomalies.