Recent Changes in Accumulation on the Bruce Plateau, Antarctica

An annually resolved climate history is emerging from a 448.12-meter ice core drilled to bedrock in 2010 on the Bruce Plateau (Antarctic Peninsula) as part of the Larsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica (LARISSA) Program. The ice core timescale is based on distinct well preserved seasonal variations in methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and is verified using volcanic horizons. The annual accumulation rate is high, averaging 1.87 meters of water equivalent (w.e) from 1750-2009 CE, and has increased dramatically since the 1930s with the average rising to 2.73 meters of w.e. from 2000 to 2009. Year to year variations in accumulation are potentially related to large scale atmospheric and oceanic oscillations such as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The relationships between these oscillators and Bruce Plateau accumulation are examined statistically with special emphasis on their temporal characteristics. These analyses are designed to determine whether the accumulation on the Bruce Plateau is modulated by one or more of these large scale atmospheric/oceanic oscillations and if so, to identify the physical linkages by which this is accomplished.