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Air hydrate inclusions in fresh ice core

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Abstract

One of the characteristic features of polar glacier ice is the abundance of air bubbles1–3. With increasing depth from the surface of the ice sheet, the size of the bubbles generally decreases in response to the change of overburden pressure. Below a certain depth, the bubbles start to shrink faster than expected and finally become invisible. Although not visible to the naked eye, unit mass of the bubble-free (clear) ice includes almost the same volume of air as unit mass of bubbly ice4,5. It is hypothesized that the air exists in the ice structure probably in the form of clathrate hydrates as suggested by Miller6,7 but until now the location of the air has been unknown. Direct observations of air hydrate inclusions were carried out for the first time in fresh ice cores from Dye-3, Greenland. When the ice structure surrounding air hydrate was melted, an explosive transition occurred releasing a gas bubble into the melt cavity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ice Core Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 4240 Ridge Lea Road, Amherst, New York, 14226, USA

    Hitoshi Shoji & Chester C. Langway Jr

Authors
  1. Hitoshi Shoji
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  2. Chester C. Langway Jr
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Shoji, H., Langway, C. Air hydrate inclusions in fresh ice core. Nature 298, 548–550 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298548a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298548a0

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