The Mount Brown South surface core (MBS1718 'Alpha', 'Bravo', and 'Charlie') chronologies and stable water isotope records

This dataset contains the layer counted annual horizon depths and the stable water isotope data of the Mount Brown South surface ice cores drilled in 2017/2018 at an elevation of 2,084 metres on the boundary of Princess Elizabeth and Kaiser Wilhelm II Land in East Antarctica. The chronologies were developed using a site-specific annual layer-counting methodology which employed seasonally varying trace chemical species and stable water isotope ratios, combined with alignment to known volcanic horizons. This dataset specifically contains the stable water isotope records of the three surface cores - Alpha, Bravo and Charlie - which were drilled adjacent to the 'Main' deep ice core at the MBS1718 site. The stable water isotope data from the Mount Brown South 'Main' deep core can be accessed at: doi:10.26179/ygeq-1a95The three surface cores span the most recent 39-52 years up to the surface age at the time of drilling (austral summer 2017/2018). The dates associated with this data use the 'MBS2023' chronology. A full description of the age scales, datasets and the development of the 'MBS2023' is detailed in Vance et al. (2024), 'An annually resolved chronology for the Mount Brown South ice cores, East Antarctica', at https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/20/969/2024/cp-20-969-2024.pdf. Any change or update to the 'MBS2023' chronology will result in the dates provided here being invalid, so the status of MBS2023 should be checked prior to use.Note that the within year dates for this dataset are calculated assuming uniform annual accumulation, and thus should be interpreted as estimates based on this assumption. See Crockart et al., 2021 for more information on the variability inherent in the annual snowfall accumulation regime at Mount Brown South: https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/17/1795/2021/cp-17-1795-2021.pdf. See Jackson et al., 2023 for a detailed climatological analysis of water stable isotope records from Mount Brown South https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/19/1653/2023/.Also see the related metadata record, "MBS2023 - The Mount Brown South ice core chronologies and chemistry data" described by the doi:10.26179/352b-6298