Siple Dome

Siple Dome ice core

The Siple Dome ice core project (79.468° S 112.086° W) was conducted by the United States National Science Foundation. The deepest ice was recovered in 1999 from 974 m, with an age of 97,600 years.Brook, E. J., White, J. W., Schilla, A. S., Bender, M. L., Barnett, B., Severinghaus, J. P., ... & Steig, E. J. (2005). Timing of millennial-scale climate change at Siple Dome, West Antarctica, during the last glacial period. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(12), 1333-1343.

It is best known for the poorly-explained steps in water isotopes during the deglacial, which are unique to this core and may indicate a rapid decrease in the surface elevation of the adjoining ice streams during the deglacial and a record of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The Chief Scientist was Kendrick Taylor.

Radar surveys of internal ice structure

In the 1990s a team from the University of Washington and St Olaf College surveyed the ice, measuring thickness and determining internal structure,{{cite journal|last1=Nereson|first1=N.A.|last2=Raymond|first2=C.F.|last3=Jacobel|first3=R.W.|last4=Waddington|first4=E.D. |display-authors=2|title=The accumulation pattern across Siple Dome, West Antarctica, inferred from radar-detected internal layers |journal=Journal of Glaciology finding evidence for the operation of the Raymond Effect. They also found that the ice had a maximum thickness of around 1000 m.

In popular culture

• A documentary on climate change research associated with the Siple Dome ice core was produced by Nova: Warnings from the Ice, 1998. The documentary explains how reductions in Antarctic ice mass can raise sea level.
• Siple Dome is referenced in the song "Fall of Sipledome" by thrash metal band Testament (on their 1999 album The Gathering).

Climate

The climate is ice cap (Köppen: ET), as is most of the continent. Without marine moderation and a few hundred meters above sea level, it has one of the harshest winters on the continent outside the Antarctic plateaus. Unlike Alert, NU at slightly higher latitude and positive high averages during summer, in Siple Dome temperatures remain below freezing during the afternoon of the warmer months on average.{{Weather box | Jan record high C =11.4 | Feb record high C =7.1 | Mar record high C =-4.6 | Apr record high C =-4.6 | May record high C =-4.9 | Jun record high C =-5.9 | Jul record high C =-8.6 | Aug record high C =-8.8 | Sep record high C =-5.6 | Oct record high C =0.0 | Nov record high C =3.1 | Dec record high C =7.4 | Jan record low C =-22.9 | Feb record low C =-33.9 | Mar record low C =-41.8 | Apr record low C =-49.9 | May record low C =-49.6 | Jun record low C =-56.6 | Jul record low C =-54.6 | Aug record low C =-59.4 | Sep record low C =-53.9 | Oct record low C =-44.8 | Nov record low C =-37.9 | Dec record low C =-21.9

References

References

1. Taylor, K. C., White, J. W. C., Severinghaus, J. P., Brook, E. J., Mayewski, P. A., Alley, R. B., ... & Lamorey, G. W. (2004). Abrupt climate change around 22ka on the Siple Coast of Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews, 23(1), 7-15.
2. Ahn, J., Wahlen, M., Deck, B. L., Brook, E. J., Mayewski, P. A., Taylor, K. C., & White, J. W. (2004). A record of atmospheric CO2 during the last 40,000 years from the Siple Dome, Antarctica ice core. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 109(D13)
3. "World Maps of Köppen-Geiger climate classification".