North Ice Cap Ice Core Chemistry

An ice core was collected from the summit dome (1275 m elevation) of North Ice Cap near Thule, Greenland using an IDDO Hand Auger in May of 2014. The core was hand sampled under clean conditions and analyzed for major ion concentration and stable water isotope ratios. These data suggest that the mean annual snow accumulation rate on North Ice Cap is 0.75 - 1.0 meters water equivalent based on 2012-2013. Refrozen surface meltwater represents 22% of the ice core length. Major ion concentrations are 1.9-6.8 times higher in refrozen melt layers than in the rest of the core, indicating that core chemistry is significantly distorted by elution during meltwater percolation.