Abstract
The ice exceeding one million years old has significant meaning for verifying and interpreting the middle Pleistocene transition (MPT) and the relationship between greenhouse gas and climate change. The region near Dome A in Antarctica satisfies the conditions for obtaining million-years-old ice since it has low temperatures and low accumulation rates. We analyze the corresponding relation between radar wave features and the crystal orientation fabric (COF) types based on the results of multi-polarization plane radio echo sounding (RES). The results show that, even in the summit of the ice sheet, the COF type is not perfect, but is an elongated single-pole COF. Principal-axis-orientation differences of the COF among the different periods exist and reveal that the ice flow orientations are not constant but deviate clockwise with the increasing depth. This may be related to the adjacent basal valley or both height and position changes of the summit during the glacial-interglacial periods.
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This work is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40874060) the 863 projection (Grant No. 2006AA09Z152).
Wang Bangbing graduated from the Chendu College of Geology in 1992 and received his PhD degree in the College of Geo-Exploration Science and Technology of Jilin University in 2007. He is mainly engaged in the field of near-surface geophysics, especially in shallow seismic and GPR technologies. At present, he dedicates himself in polar and archeological geophysics and publishes papers.
Gang Tian received a BS (1982) and an MS (1988) in Applied Geophysics from Changchun College of Geology, China, and a PhD (1995) in Geophysics from the University of Durham, UK. After then, he returned to Changchun University of Science & Technology which merged into Jilin University. From 1997 to 2004, he had been the deputy dean of the college of Geo-Exploration and Information Technology at the University. From 2001 to 2002 he was a visiting professor at the University of Kansas, USA. At present, he is a full professor of geophysics in Zhejiang University and the deputy director of the Institute of Geology & Geophysics in the University. His research interests include near-surface geophysics and inversion of seismic data. He is a member of SEG, EAGE, and CGS.
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Wang, B., Tian, G., Cui, X. et al. The internal COF features in Dome A of Antarctica revealed by multi-polarization-plane RES. Appl. Geophys. 5, 230–237 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-008-0029-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-008-0029-z