Re-assessment of recent (2008–2013) surface mass balance over Dome Argus, Antarctica

Abstract

At Dome Argus, East Antarctica, the surface mass balance (SMB) from 2008 to 2013 was evaluated using 49 stakes installed across a 30)30 km area. Spatial analysis showed that at least 12 and 20 stakes are needed to obtain reliable estimates of SMB at local scales (a few hundred square metres) and regional scales (tens of square kilometres), respectively. The estimated annual mean SMB was 22.995.9 kg m (2 yr (1 , including a net loss by sublimation of (2.229 0.02 kg m (2 yr (1 and a mass gain by deposition of 1.3790.01 kg m (2 yr (1 . Therefore, ca. 14.3% of precipitation was modified after deposition, which should be considered when interpreting snow or ice core records produced by future drilling projects. The surface snow density and SMB in the western portion of Dome Argus are higher than in other areas, and these differences are likely related to the katabatic wind, which is strengthened by topography in this sector. A new digital elevation model (DEM) of Dome Argus was generated, confirming that both peaks of the dome can be considered as the summit of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Findings from this study should be valuable for validating SMB estimates obtained from regional climate models and DEMs established using remote-sensing data.

The Surface Energy Balance at Panda 1 Station, Princess Elizabeth Land: A Typical Katabatic Wind Region in East Antarctica

“…Precipitation and drifting snow sublimation were not considered in our calculations because of a lack of measurements. At Dome A, Ding et al () found a mass accumulation rate of 23 kg · m −2 · a −1 , and surface sublimation of 2.2 kg · m −2 · a −1 . The annual average wind speed at Panda‐1 Station is close to 10.5 m s −1 , whereas at Dome A Station it is less than 3 m s −1 .…”

Influence of Summer Sublimation on δD, δ18O, and δ17O in Precipitation, East Antarctica, and Implications for Climate Reconstruction From Ice Cores

“…However, the 17 O‐excess values of the blowing snow should be lower due to the influence of kinetic fractionation at very low temperature (Angert et al, ; Pang et al, ; Risi et al, ), which cannot account for the observed high values of 17 O‐excess in summer precipitation at Dome A. Moreover, the wind speed at Dome A during summer is usually <3 m/s (Ding et al, ), which limits the blowing snow process. Therefore, we think that the blowing snow process should not be the reason for the observed lower δ 18 O values as well as high values of d‐excess and 17 O‐excess in summer precipitation at Dome A.…”

“…In the interior of Antarctica, summer months (December and January) are the warmest of the year and snow sublimation primarily occurs during the warmest season (Ding et al, 2016;Ekaykin et al, 2004;Frezzotti et al, 2004;Kameda et al, 1997). As a result, we focus our analysis on isotopic composition in summer precipitation and compare our data with results from surface snow at other sites of Antarctica (Masson-Delmotte et al, 2008) and nonsummer season precipitation (February to November) on the East Antarctic Plateau.…”

“…During the summer on the East Antarctic Plateau, the sublimation of snow is significant because of the greater solar radiation (Ding et al, 2016;Ekaykin et al, 2004;Frezzotti et al, 2004;Kameda et al, 1997). The relatively high air temperature during the day can cause the development of a convective boundary layer (Mastrantonio et al, 1999).…”

“…Previous studies have indicated that summer sublimation of surface snow is significant in the interior of Antarctica due to the greater solar radiation (Ding et al, ; Ekaykin et al, ; Frezzotti et al, ; Kameda et al, ). Simulations from the Melbourne University atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) indicated that over 50% of the moisture condensing above the Antarctica during the summer months (DJF) comes from the Antarctica itself, with ~42% from inland sublimation (Noone & Simmonds, ).…”