JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. B2, 2090, doi:10.1029/2001JB001707, 2003

2. P96 Site and Reference Horizons in the P96 Ice Core

Figure 1. The east central part of the Penny Ice Cap showing the P95 and P96 drill sites and the automatic weather station site (AWS); elevations in feet [from Fisher et al., 1998] (reprinted with permission from American Association for the Advancement of Science).

[6] The Penny Ice Cap on the Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, is the southernmost major ice cap in Canada. In 1996, an ice core (P96) from 1.0 to 177.91 m depth (bedrock) was recovered from the east central part of the ice cap (Figure 1). The site is at the top of a flow line on a local ice dome (1810 m above sea level), down-slope from the main summit ridge, where another surface-to-bedrock ice core (P95) was drilled in 1995. The ice cores were drilled with an electromechanical drill, and core recovery was more than 98%. The 15 m ice temperature, measured at an automatic weather station (AWS) 7.5 km down-ridge from the P95 site, is -14.4°C. On the basis of the calculated bottom temperature at the P95 site (-8°C), it is unlikely that basal melting has occurred during the Holocene [Fisher et al., 1998].

[7] delta ¹⁸O and solid conductivity [electrical conductivity method (ECM)] measurements on the P96 ice core [Fisher et al., 1998] demonstrate there is pre-Holocene ice near the bed. The timescales in Fisher et al. [1998] are partially based on major ECM peaks representing volcanic events (e.g., Katmai, 1912 A.D.; Laki, 1783 A.D.), and cross-correlation with ECM peaks (volcanic events) in Greenland ice cores at 1259 A.D. and 50 B.C.

Citation: Okuyama, J., H. Narita, T. Hondoh, and R. M. Koerner, Physical properties of the P96 ice core from Penny Ice Cap, Baffin Island, Canada, and derived climatic records, J. Geophys. Res., 108(B2), 2090, doi:10.1029/2001JB001707, 2003.