Identifying a Southern Annular Mode signal in Antarctic Peninsula accumulation

Abstract

In this study Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been used to investigate snow accumulation variability in the southwestern Antarctic Peninsula to aid the interpretation of a new ice core record. The GPR revealed homogeneity in the observed isochrones to a depth of 150 meters, encompassing the depth of the ice core (136 meters), over a 20 km radius from the central drill site. The GPR records have been used to validate accumulation records that reveal a doubling in snowfall in the southwestern Peninsula since 1850 allowing us to infer that this is a true climate signature and not a result of topography changes or flow.