A Snapshot on the Buildup of the Stable Water Isotopic Signal in the Upper Snowpack at EastGRIP on the Greenland Ice Sheet

The stable water isotopic composition in firn and ice cores provides valuable information on past climatic conditions. Because of uneven accumulation and post-depositional modifications on local spatial scales up to hundreds of meters, time series derived from adjacent cores differ significantly and do not directly reflect the temporal evolution of the precipitated snow isotopic signal. Hence, a characterization of how the isotopic profile in the snow develops is needed to reliably interpret the isotopic variability in firn and ice cores. By combining digital elevation models of the snow surface and repeated high-resolution snow sampling for stable water isotope measurements of a transect at the East Greenland Ice-core Project campsite on the Greenland Ice Sheet, we are able to visualize the buildup and post-depositional changes of the upper snowpack across one summer season. To this end, 30 cm deep snow profiles were sampled on six dates at 20 adjacent locations along a 40 m transect. Near-daily photogrammetry provided snow height information for the same transect. Our data shows that erosion and redeposition of the original snowfall lead to a complex stratification in the delta O-18 signature. Post-depositional processes through vapor-snow exchange affect the near surface snow with d-excess showing a decrease in surface and near-surface layers. Our data suggests that the interplay of stratigraphic noise, accumulation intermittency, and local post-depositional processes form the proxy signal in the upper snowpack.

Automated summary

Stable water isotopic composition in firn and ice cores can provide valuable information on past climatic conditions, but the interpretation of isotopic variability requires a characterization of how the isotopic profile in the snow develops.