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Water stable isotope records in polar ice cores have been largely used to reconstruct past local temperatures and other climatic information such as evaporative source region conditions of the precipitation reaching the ice core sites. However, recent studies have identified post-depositional processes taking place at the ice sheet's surface, modifying the original precipitation signal and challenging the traditional interpretation of ice core isotopic records. In this study, we use a combination of existing and new datasets of precipitation, snow surface, and subsurface isotopic compositions (δ18O and deuterium excess (d-excess)); meteorological parameters; ERA5 reanalyses; outputs from the isotope-enabled climate model ECHAM6-wiso; and a simple modelling approach to investigate the transfer function of water stable isotopes from precipitation to the snow surface and subsurface at Dome C in East Antarctica. We first show that water vapour fluxes at the surface of the ice sheet result in a net annual sublimation of snow, from 3.1 to 3.7 mm w.e. yr−1 (water equivalent) between 2018 and 2020, corresponding to 12 % to 15 % of the annual surface mass balance. We find that the precipitation isotopic signal cannot fully explain the mean, nor the variability in the isotopic composition observed in the snow, from annual to intra-monthly timescales. We observe that the mean effect of post-depositional processes over the study period enriches the snow surface in δ18O by 3.0 ‰ to 3.3 ‰ and lowers the snow surface d-excess by 3.4 ‰ to 3.5 ‰ compared to the incoming precipitation isotopic signal. We also show that the mean isotopic composition of the snow subsurface is not statistically different from that of the snow surface, indicating the preservation of the mean isotopic composition of the snow surface in the top centimetres of the snowpack. This study confirms previous findings about the complex interpretation of the water stable isotopic signal in the snow and provides the first quantitative estimation of the impact of post-depositional processes on the snow isotopic composition at Dome C, a crucial step for the accurate interpretation of isotopic records from ice cores.

Knowledge of Antarctic permafrost is mainly derived from the Antarctic Peninsula and Victoria Land. This study examines the 2019–2023 temperature and humidity conditions, distribution and development of polygonal terrain and the origin of ground ice in soils of the Untersee Oasis. In this region, the surface offset (MAAT ≅ MAGST) and the thermal offset (MAGST ≤ TTIT) reflect the lack of vegetation, absence of persistent snow and a dry soil above the ice table. The mean annual vapour pressure at the ground surface is approximately ~2× higher than in the air but is ~0.67× lower than at the ice table. The size of polygons appears to be in equilibrium with the ice-table depth, and numerical modelling suggests that the depth of the ice table is in turn in equilibrium with the ground surface temperature and humidity. The ground ice at the ice table probably originates from the partial evaporation of snowmelt that infiltrated the dry soil column. As such, the depth of the ice table in this region is set by the water vapour density gradient between the ground surface and the ice-bearing ground, but it is recharged periodically by evaporating snowmelt.

In this paper a detailed record of major ions from a 20 m deep firn core from Amundsenisen, western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, is presented. The core was drilled at 75° S, 2° E (2900 m a.s.l.) during austral summer 1991/92. The following ions were measured at 3 cm resolution: Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, NO3−, S04 2− and CH3SO3H (MSA). The core was dated back to 1865 using a combination of chemical records and volcanic reference horizons. The volcanic eruptions identified in this core are Mount Ngauruhoe, New Zealand (1974–75), Mount Agung, Indonesia (1963), Azul, Argentina (1932), and a broad peak that corresponds in time toTarawera, New Zealand (1886), Falcon Island, South Shetlands, Southern Ocean (1885), and Krakatau, Indonesia (1883). There are no trends in any of the ion records, but the annual to decadal changes are large. The mean concentrations of the measured ions are in agreement with those from other high-altitude cores from the Antarctic plateau. At this core site there may be a correspondence between peaks in the MSA record and major El Niño–Southern Oscillation events.

As part of the pre-site survey in Dronning Maud Land for the European Project for Ice Goring in Antarctica (EPICA), the spatial variability of snow-layer thickness and snow chemistry was studied at two geographically different ice-core drill sites. The study aimed to quantify error bars on accumulation rates derived from firn and ice cores. One site is located on the polar plateau at Amundsenisen (76° S, 8° W) and the other in the coastal area at Maudheimvidda (73° S, 13° W). Medium-deep ice cores (100 m) and shallow firn cores (10-20 m) were drilled and snow pits (0.5-2 5 m) were dug at each site. At Amundsenisen a large (16 m x 6 m x 2.5 m deep) snow pit was dug. Snow structure in this large snow pit was mapped using optical surveying equipment, and photographically documented. Samples for analysis of nine ions and oxygen isotopes were collected along one depth profile. Density and in situ electrical conductivity measurements were made along three depth profiles! Snow-layer variability was studied in two different areas and at two different scales. At a regional scale, measured by snow-radar soundings, the variability was 8% on the polar plateau and 45% in the coastal area. The variability at a micro-scale in the large snow pit was 9%. The results indicate that ice cores from the polar plateau are more representative for a larger area than ice cores drilled in the coastal area There is no doubt that there are significant error bars on high-resolution accumulation data received from firn and ice cores, especially from the coastal area, but averaging over tens of years reduces the error in accumulation estimates.

Temperature, density and accumulation data were obtained from shallow firn cores, drilled during an overland traverse through a previously unknown part of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The traverse area is characterised by high mountains that obstruct the ice flow, resulting in a sudden transition from the polar plateau to the coastal region. The spatial variations of potential temperature, near-surface firn density and accumulation suggest that katabatic winds are active in this region. Proxy wind data derived from firn-density profiles confirm that annual mean wind speed is strongly related to the magnitude of the surface slope. The high elevation of the ice sheet south of the mountains makes for a dry, cold climate, in which mass loss owing to sublimation is small and erosion of snow by the wind has a potentially large impact on the surface mass balance. A simple katabatic-wind model is used to explain the variations of accumulation along the traverse line in terms of divergence/convergence of the local transport of drifting snow. The resulting wind- and snowdrift patterns are closely connected to the topography of the ice sheet: ridges are especially sensitive to erosion, while ice streams and other depressions act as collectors of drifting snow.

We studied the influence of the semi-annual oscillation (SAO) on near-surface temperatures in Antarctica, using observations of 27 stations that were operational during (part of) the period 1957–79. For the annual cycle of surface pressure, the second harmonic explains 17–36% of the total variance on the Antarctic Plateau, 36–68% along the East Antarctic coast and almost 80% on the west coast of the Peninsula, and decreases further to the north. As a result of the amplification of the wave-3 structure of the circulation around Antarctica, a significant modification of the seasonal cooling is observed at many stations. The magnitude of this modification is largely determined by the strength of the temperature inversion at the surface: the percentage of the variance explained by the second harmonic of the annual temperature cycle is then largest on the Antarctic Plateau (11–18%), followed by the large ice shelves and coastal East Antarctica (6–12%) and stations at or close to the Peninsula (0–5%). A significant coupling between the half-yearly wave in surface pressure and that in surface temperature is found for coastal East Antarctica, which can be directly explained by the changes in meridional circulation brought about by the SAO. We show that the coupling of Antarctic temperatures to the meridional circulation is not only valid on the seasonal time scale of the SAO, but probably also on daily and interannual time scales. This has important implications for the interpretation of time series of Antarctic temperatures, a problem that will be addressed in part 2 of this paper.

Following a weakening of the semi-annual oscillation (SAO) since the mid-1970s, the half-yearly pressure wave in the Southern Hemisphere has become less significant. As a result, May/June temperatures have decreased in East Antarctica, which has moderated Antarctic warming. Spectral analysis of 87 years of pressure data at Orcadas suggest that the recent weakening of the SAO is part of the natural variability of the Southern Hemisphere circulation on decadal timescales. We interpret the time series of composite Antarctic temperature in terms of the historical strengthening and weakening of the SAO. If the dominant oscillations that occurred in the past prove to be persistent, an accelerated East Antarctic warming trend is expected for the coming decades. There are indications that the strength of the SAO is linked to the Southern Oscillation, in the sense that warm phases of the Southern Oscillation coincide with strong westerlies, a weakly developed SAO and below-average temperatures in East Antarctica. Temperatures on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula show strongly deviant patterns, which can not be explained by the same mechanism that applies to East Antarctica.

During the austral summer 1993/1994, the spatial distribution of snow was mapped by a ground-based snow radar (800–2300 MHz) in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Snow radar soundings were performed along continuous profiles extending from the ice shelf up to the polar plateau, a total distance of 1040 km. The high-resolution radar registrations revealed subsurface layering in the uppermost 12 m of the snowpack. The travel time record was translated into snow accumulation expressed in water equivalents, based on an empirical relationship between wave speed and firn density. A good knowledge on snow density variations with depth is essential for the variability studies. Generally, the snow layering was well developed in the coastal area and less well developed on the polar plateau. High spatial variability in snow accumulation was observed on a regional as well as on a local scale. The variability was very high in areas with large surface slopes, such as the grounding zone and around nunataks. The highest variability was recorded in the nunatak area, where the standard deviation reached 59% of the spatial average accumulation. On the smooth high-altitude plateau, variations in accumulation were less pronounced. However, here the standard deviation exceeded 22% of the average accumulation rate. Provided that the snow radar soundings are supported by dating of reference horizons along the travel route, this is a good method to obtain the accumulation rate and pattern for large areas with a high spatial resolution.