1. Inventory
  2. Siple Dome

Siple Dome

General Information

Siple Dome is located in West Antarctica on the Siple Coast between the Kamb and Bindschadler Ice Streams (former Ice Streams C and D) at approximately 81.65° S, 148.81° W.

1994/95 Site Reconnaissance

During the 1994/95 field season, a 150 m core was drilled ~3 km north-northeast of the summit of Siple Dome (ICF Core ID: SDM 94). Portions of the core are in the NSF-ICF archive.

1996/97 to 1998/99 Deep Core (SDMA)

The deep Siple Dome ice core (ICF Core ID: SDMA) was drilled to bedrock (1004 m depth) during the 1996-1998 austral summers. SDMA depths attained were 154 m in 1996/97, 351 m in 1997/98, and the bed at 1004 m in 1998/99 (Bentley and Koci, 2007). There was no attempt to core the bed. The deep SDMA and shallower (100 m) SDMB ice cores were drilled 10 m apart from one another (Dunbar and others, 2003). SDMA has been sampled fairly intensely and core quality is always an issue in the deeper areas.

Shallow Cores

A series of shallow cores (B-H) were collected in a transect across Siple Dome during the 1996/97 field season to explore the spatial variability of various climatic and meteorological signals. Cores B, C, D and I are from the summit of Siple Dome, cores E and G are from the north flank of the dome facing the Pacific Ocean, and cores F and H are from the south flank of the dome facing inland (Jones and others, 2014).

Core(s) Available

Core Name Core ID Years Drilled Lat/Long Core Top (m) Core Bottom (m) Core Diameter (cm) Site Elevation Drilling Method Drillers Drilling Fluid Original PI PI Affiliation De-accessed
SIPLE DOME 94 SDM 94 1994 -81.6425, -148.7725 0.00 150.00 10.00 615 Electromechanical PICO Dry Paul Mayewski Univ. of New Hampshire No
SIPLE DOME A SDMA 1996/97 to 1998/99 -81.6588333, -148.812 0.38 1003.81 13.20 621 Electromechanical PICO Dry / n-Butyl Acetate Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI No
SIPLE DOME B SDMB 12/10/96 -81.6588333, -148.812 0.00 99.98 10.00 615 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI No
SIPLE DOME C SDMC 12/15/96 -81.655, -148.7943333 0.00 91.95 10.00 615 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME D SDMD 1/11/97 -81.6455, -148.786 0.00 30.87 10.00 615 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME E SDME 12/27/96 -81.3023333, -148.3023333 0.00 99.99 10.00 400 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME F SDMF 1/5/97 -81.9085, -149.337 0.00 100.77 10.00 450 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME G SDMG 1/13/97 -81.5708333, -148.5975 0.00 30.63 10.00 590 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME H SDMH 1/15/97 -81.7395, -148.9768333 0.00 30.75 10.00 590 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME I SDMI 1/16/97 -81.6375, -148.7658333 0.00 30.06 10.00 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME J SDMJ 97/98 -81.6588333, -148.812 0.00 118.61 10.00 435 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI Yes
SIPLE DOME K SDMK 98/99 39.56 101.64 10.00 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI No
SIPLE DOME L SDML 98/99 0.00 12.00 10.00 Electromechanical PICO Dry Siple Dome SCO Univ. of Nevada, Reno, DRI No
Data
Publications
  • Ahn J, Wahlen M, Deck BL, Brook EJ, Mayewski PA, Taylor KC, and White JWC (2004) A record of atmospheric CO2 during the last 40,000 years from the Siple Dome, Antarctica ice core. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 109(D13). https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD004415
  • Alley RB, Brook EJ, Anandakrishnan S (2002) A northern lead in the orbital band: North-south phasing of ice-age events. Quaternary Science Reviews 21(1-3):431-441.
  • Alley RB (2001) The key to the past? Concepts. Nature 409:289.
  • Alley RB, Anandakrishnan S, and Jung P (2001) Stochastic resonance in the North Atlantic. Paleoceanography 16(2): 190-198.
  • Alley RB, Anandakrishnan S, Jung P, and Clough A (2001) Stochastic resonance in the North Atlantic: Further Insights. In D. Seidov, B.J. Haupt, and M. Maslin, eds. The Oceans and Rapid Climate Change: Past, Present and Future. Geophysical Monograph 126:57-68.
  • Alley RB, and Cuffey KM (2001) Oxygen- and hydrogen-isotopic ratios of water in precipitation: Beyond paleothermometry. In J.W. Valley and D. Cole, eds. Stable Isotope Geochemistry. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry v. 43, Mineralogical Society of America.
  • Alley RB (2000) Ice-core evidence of abrupt climate changes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97:1331-1334.
  • Alley RB, Agustsdottir AM, and Fawcett PJ (1999) Ice-core evidence of Late-Holocene reduction in north Atlantic ocean heat transport. In P.U. Clark, R.S. Webb, and L.D. Keigwin, eds. Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scales. Geophysical Monograph v. 112, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 301-312.
  • Alley RB, and Clark PU (1999) The deglaciation of the northern hemisphere: a global perspective. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences 27:149-182.
  • Alley RB, and Fitzpatrick JJ (1999) Conditions for bubble elongation in cold ice-sheet ice. Journal of Glaciology 45:147-154.
  • Alley RB, Clark PU, Keigwin LD and Webb RS (1999) Making sense of millennial-scale climate change. In P.U. Clark, R.S. Webb, and L.D. Keigwin, eds. Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scales. Geophysical Monograph v. 112, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 385-394.
  • Alley RB, Lynch-Stieglitz J, and Severinghaus JP (1999) Global climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96:9987-9988.
  • Alley RB (1997) Antarctica and sea-level change. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. XXXII. http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf9824.
  • Alley RB, Spencer MK, and Voigt DE (1997) Visible examination of Siple Dome, West Antarctica, shallow cores. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 32(5), 44-45.
  • Bindschadler RA, Alley RB, Anderson J, Shipp S, Borns H, Fastook J, Jacobs S, Raymond CF, and Shuman CA (1998) What is happening to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? Eos (Transactions of the American Geophysical Union) 79:257,264-265.
  • Bay RC, Price PB, Clow GD, and Gow AJ (2001) Climate logging with a new rapid optical technique at Siple Dome. Geophysical Research Letters 28:4635-4638.
  • Bentley CR and Koci BR (2007) Drilling to the beds of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets: a review. Annals of Glaciology, 47, 1-9. doi: 10.3189/172756407786857695. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756407786857695
  • Bromwich DH, Rogers AN, Kâllberg P, Cullather RI, White JWC, and Kreutz KJ (2000) ECMWF analyses and reanalyses depiction of ENSO signal in Antarctic precipitation. Journal of Climate 13, no. 8 (April): 1406-1420.
  • Brook EJ, White JW, Schilla AS, Bender ML, Barnett B, Severinghaus JP, Taylor KC, Alley RB, and Steig EJ (2005). Timing of millennial-scale climate change at Siple Dome, West Antarctica, during the last glacial period. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(12), 1333-1343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.02.002
  • Clark PU, Alley RB, and Pollard D (1999) Northern hemisphere ice-sheet influences on global climate change. Science 286:1103-1111.
  • Das SB, Alley RB, Reusch DB, and Shuman CA (2002) Temperature variability at Siple Dome, West Antarctica, derived from SSM/I and SSMR brightness temperatures, ECMWF reanalyses, and AWS records. Annals of Glaciology 34, no 1 (January): 106-112.
  • Das SB and Alley RB (2008) Rise in frequency of surface melting at Siple Dome through the Holocene: Evidence for increasing marine influence on the climate of West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, D02112. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008790
  • Dixon D, Mayewski P, Kaspari S, Kreutz K, Hamilton G, Maasch K, Maasch K, Sneed SB, Handley MJ (2005) A 200 year sulfate record from 16 Antarctic ice cores and associations with Southern Ocean sea-ice extent. Annals of Glaciology, 41, 155-166. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756405781813366
  • Dunbar NW, Zielinski GA, and Voisins DT (2003) Tephra layers in the Siple Dome and Taylor Dome ice cores, Antarctica: Sources and correlations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 2374. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JB002056
  • Gades AM, Raymond CF, Conway H, and Jacobel RW (2000) Bed properties of Siple Dome and adjacent ice streams, West Antarctica, inferred from radio echo-sounding measurements. Journal of Glaciology 46(152):88-94.
  • Grimm RE, Stillman DE and MacGregor JA (2015) Dielectric signatures and evolution of glacier ice, Journal of Glaciology, 61(230), 1159-1170, doi:10.3189/2015JoG15J113
  • Gow AJ, and Engelhardt H (2000) Preliminary analysis of ice cores from Siple Dome, West Antarctica. Physics of Ice Core Records. Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo, Japan.
  • Gow AJ and Meese DA (2007) Physical properties, crystalline textures and c-axis fabrics of the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core. Journal of Glaciology, 53(183), 573-584. https://doi.org/10.3189/002214307784409252
  • Jacobel RW, Scambos TA, Nereson NA, and Raymond CF (2000) Changes in the margin of ice stream C, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology 46(152):102-110.
  • Jacobel RW, Scambos TA, Raymond CR, and Gades AM (1996) Changes in the configuration of ice stream flow from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Journal of Geophysical Research 101(B3):5499-5504.
  • Jacobel RW, and Gades AM (1995) Radar observations of a relict ice stream margin traversing Siple Dome, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the United States XXX(5):89-91.
  • Jones TR, White JWC, and Popp T (2014) Siple Dome shallow ice cores: a study in coastal dome microclimatology, Climate of the Past, 10, 1253-1267. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1253-2014
  • Koffman BG, Goldstein SL, Winckler G, Kaplan MR, Kreutz KJ, Bolge L, Bory A, Biscaye P (2021) Late Holocene dust provenance at Siple Dome, Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews, 274, 107271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107271
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Meeker LD, Twickler MS, and Whitlow SI (2000) The effect of spatial and temporal accumulation rate variability in West Antarctica on soluble ion deposition. Geophysical Research Letters 27(16):2517-2520.
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Pittalwala II, Meeker LD, Twickler MS, and Whitlow SI (2000) Sea-level pressure variability in the Amundsen Sea region inferred from a West Antarctic glaciochemical record. Journal of Geophysical Research 105(D3):4047-4059.
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Twickler MS, Whitlow SI, White JWC, Shuman CA, Raymond CR, Conway H, and McConnell JR (1999) Seasonal variations of glaciochemical, isotopic, and stratigraphic properties in Siple Dome, Antarctica surface snow. Annals of Glaciology 29:1-7.
  • Kreutz KJ, and Mayewski PA (1999) Spatial variability of Antarctic surface snow glaciochemistry: Implications for paleoatmospheric circulation reconstructions. Antarctic Science 11(1):105-118.
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Whitlow SI, and Twickler MS (1998) Limited migration of soluble ionic species in a Siple Dome, Antarctic ice core. Annals of Glaciology 27:371-377. https://doi.org/10.3189/1998AoG27-1-371-377
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Meeker LD, Twickler MS, and Whitlow SI (1998) Continuous glaciochemical measurements on the Siple Dome deep ice core. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 33(5).
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Meeker LD, Twickler MS, Whitlow SI, and Pittalwala II (1997) Bipolar changes in atmospheric circulation during the Little Ice Age. Science 277:1294-1296.
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Twickler MS, Whitlow SI, and Meeker LD (1997) Glaciochemical studies at Siple Dome, West Antarctica, during the 1996-97 season. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 32(5):46-48.
  • Kreutz KJ, Mayewski PA, Twickler MS, and Whitlow SI (1996) Ice core glaciochemical reconnaissance in Inland West Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 31(5):51-52.
  • Kurbatov AV, Zielinski GA, Dunbar NW, Mayewski PA, Meyerson EA, Sneed SB, and Taylor KC (2006) A 12,000 year record of explosive volcanism in the Siple Dome Ice Core, West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, D12307. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006072
  • Mayewski PA and Barron E (1999) Paleoclimate Overview, Chapter 6. "Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade." National Academy of Sciences Global Change Report, 237-292.
  • Mayewski PA, Bracegirdle T, Goodwin I, Schneider D, Bertler NAN, Birkel S, Carleton A, England MH, Kang J-H, Khan A, Russell J, Turner J, Velicogna I (2015) Potential for Southern Hemisphere climate surprises. Journal of Quaternary Science (Rapid Communication) 30, 391-395. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2794
  • Mayewski PA, Carleton A, Birkel SD, Dixon D, Kurbatov AV, Korotkikh E, McConnell J, Curran M, Cole-Dai J, Su J, Plummer C, Vance T, Maaasch KA, Sneed SB, Handley M (2017) Ice core and climate reanalysis analogs to predict Antarctic and Southern Hemisphere climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews 155, 50-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.11.017
  • Mayewski PA, Maasch KA, Dixon D, Sneed SB, Oglesby R, Kurbatov AV, Korotkikh E, Potocki M, Grigholm B, Kreutz K, Taylor KC, Steig E, White J, Bertler NAN, Goodwin I, de Mello Monques M, Tholn IU, Simoés JC, Jana R, Kraus S, Fastook J (2012) West Antarctica’s sensitivity to natural and human-forced climate change over the Holocene. Journal of Quaternary Science 1 (28). https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2593
  • Mayewski PA, Twickler MS, and Whitlow S (1995) The Siple Dome ice core - Reconnaissance glaciochemistry. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 85-87.
  • Miocinovic P, Price PB, and Bay RC (2001) Rapid optical method for logging dust concentration versus depth in glacial ice. Applied Optics 40:2515-2521.
  • Moser DE, Thomas ER, Nehrbass-Ahles C, Eichler A, Wolff E (2024) Review article: Melt-affected ice cores for polar research in a warming world. The Cryosphere, 18, 2691-2718. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2691-2024
  • Nereson NA, Raymond CF, Jacobel RW, and Waddington ED (2000) The accumulation pattern across Siple Dome, West Antarctica, inferred from radar-detected internal layers. Journal of Glaciology 46(152):75-87.
  • Nereson NA, Raymond CF, Waddington ED, and Jacobel RW (1998) Migration of the Siple Dome ice divide, West Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology 44(148):643-652.
  • Nereson NA, Waddington ED, Raymond CF, and Jacobson HP (1996) Predicted age-depth scales for Siple Dome and inland WAIS ice cores in west Antartica. Geophysical Research Letters 23:3163-3166.
  • Raymond CF, Nereson NA, Gades AM, Conway H, Jacobel R, and Scambos T (1995) Geometry and stratigraphy of Siple Dome, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 30:91-93.
  • Reusch DB, Mayewski PA, Whitlow SI, and Twickler MS (1999) Spatial variability and past atmospheric circulation patterns from central West Antarctic glaciochemistry. Journal of Geophysical Research 104(D6):5985-6001.
  • Schilla A (2007) The stable isotopes and deuterium excess from the Siple Dome ice core: Implications for the late Quaternary climate and elevation history of the Ross Sea Region, West Antarctica, PhD Dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder. https://www.proquest.com/docview/304887759
  • Severinghaus JP, and Brook EJ (1999) Abrupt climate change at the end of the last glacial period inferred from trapped air in polar ice. Science 286:930-934.
  • Shuman CA, and Stearns CR (2001) Decadal-length composite inland West Antarctic temperature records. Journal of Climate 14(9):1977-1988.
  • Shuman CA and Comiso JC (2002) In situ and satellite surface temperature records in Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology 34: 113-120.
  • Spencer MK, Alley RB, and Creyts TT (2001) Preliminary firn-densification model with 38-site dataset. Journal of Glaciology 47, no. 159: 671-676.
  • Taylor KC, Alley RB, Meese DA, Spencer MK, Brook EJ, Dunbar NW, Finkel RC, Gow AJ, Kurbatov AV, Lamorey GW, Mayewski PA, Meyerson EA, Nishiizumi K, Zielinski GA (2004) Dating the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core by manual and computer interpretation of annual layering. Journal of Glaciology, 50(170), 453-461. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756504781829864
  • Taylor KC, White JWC, Severinghaus JP, Brook EJ, Mayewski PA, Alley RB, Steig EJ, Spencer MK, Meyerson E, Meese DA, Lamorey GW, Grachev A, Gow AJ, Barnett BA (2004) Abrupt climate change around 22ka on the Siple Coast of Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews, 23(1), 7-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.09.004
  • Waddington ED, Bolzan JF, and Alley RB (2001) Potential for stratigraphic folding near ice sheet centers. Journal of Glaciology 47, no. 159: 639-648.