Chemical measurements in the Arctic Circle Traverse 2011 (ACT11) ice cores

Net snow accumulation is the largest single component and the sole input to the Greenland ice sheet mass budget. To map spatial and temporal changes in high net snow accumulation regions of the southeast Greenland ice sheet during the past 5 decades, two surface traverses were undertaken in 2010 and 2011. The NSF-funded traverses were called Arctic Circle Traverse (ACT)10 and ACT11 and included detailed measurements of surface elevation and ice penetrating. A small array of shallow ice cores was collected and analyzed using the continuous analytical system at the Desert Research Institute. The measurements primarily were intended to allow for accurate dating of annual layers and so to determine past net annual snow accumulation, as well as age scales for the radar surveys.