Abstract. The recovery of a 1.5 million yr long ice core from Antarctica represents a keystone of our understanding of Quaternary climate, the progression of glaciation over this time period and the role of greenhouse gas cycles in this progression. Here we tackle the question of where such ice may still be found in the Antarctic ice sheet. We can show that such old ice is most likely to exist in the plateau area of the East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS) without stratigraphic disturbance and should be able to be recovered after careful presite selection studies. Based on a simple ice and heat flow model and glaciological observations, we conclude that positions in the vicinity of major domes and saddle position on the East Antarctic Plateau will most likely have such old ice in store and represent the best study areas for dedicated reconnaissance studies in the near future. In contrast to previous ice core drill site selections, however, we strongly suggest significantly reduced ice thickness to avoid bottom melting. For example for the geothermal heat flux and accumulation conditions at Dome C, an ice thickness lower than but close to about 2500 m would be required to find 1.5 Myr old ice (i.e., more than 700 m less than at the current EPICA Dome C drill site). Within this constraint, the resolution of an Oldest-Ice record and the distance of such old ice to the bedrock should be maximized to avoid ice flow disturbances, Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. H. Fischer et al.:Where to find 1.5 million yr old ice for the IPICS "Oldest-Ice" ice core for example, by finding locations with minimum geothermal heat flux. As the geothermal heat flux is largely unknown for the EAIS, this parameter has to be carefully determined beforehand. In addition, detailed bedrock topography and ice flow history has to be reconstructed for candidates of an Oldest-Ice ice coring site. Finally, we argue strongly for rapid access drilling before any full, deep ice coring activity commences to bring datable samples to the surface and to allow an age check of the oldest ice.

Here, we present direct measurements of atmospheric composition and Antarctic climate from the mid-Pleistocene (∼1 Ma) from ice cores drilled in the Allan Hills blue ice area, Antarctica. The 1-Ma ice is dated from the deficit in 40 Ar relative to the modern atmosphere and is present as a stratigraphically disturbed 12-m section at the base of a 126-m ice core. The 1-Ma ice appears to represent most of the amplitude of contemporaneous climate cycles and CO 2 and CH 4 concentrations in the ice range from 221 to 277 ppm and 411 to 569 parts per billion (ppb), respectively. These concentrations, together with measured δD of the ice, are at the warm end of the field for glacial-interglacial cycles of the last 800 ky and span only about one-half of the range. The highest CO 2 values in the 1-Ma ice fall within the range of interglacial values of the last 400 ka but are up to 7 ppm higher than any interglacial values between 450 and 800 ka. The lowest CO 2 values are 30 ppm higher than during any glacial period between 450 and 800 ka. This study shows that the coupling of Antarctic temperature and atmospheric CO 2 extended into the mid-Pleistocene and demonstrates the feasibility of discontinuously extending the current ice core record beyond 800 ka by shallow coring in Antarctic blue ice areas.climate change | glacial cycles | atmospheric CO 2 | ice cores | greenhouse gases

ABSTRACT. The Holocene portion of the Siple Dome (Antarctica) ice core was dated by interpreting the electrical, visual and chemical properties of the core. The data were interpreted manually and with a computer algorithm. The algorithm interpretation was adjusted to be consistent with atmospheric methane stratigraphic ties to the GISP2 (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2) ice core, 10 Be stratigraphic ties to the dendrochronology 14 C record and the dated volcanic stratigraphy. The algorithm interpretation is more consistent and better quantified than the tedious and subjective manual interpretation.

[1] We have measured the CO 2 concentration of air occluded during the last 40,000 years in the deep Siple Dome A (hereafter Siple Dome) ice core, Antarctica. The general trend of CO 2 concentration from Siple Dome ice follows the temperature inferred from the isotopic composition of the ice and is mostly in agreement with other Antarctic ice core CO 2 records. CO 2 rose initially at $17.5 kyr B.P. (thousand years before 1950), decreased slowly during the Antarctic Cold Reversal, rose during the Younger Dryas, fell to a local minimum at around 8 kyr B.P., and rose continuously since then. The CO 2 concentration never reached steady state during the Holocene, as also found in the Taylor Dome and EPICA Dome C (hereafter Dome C) records. During the last glacial termination, a lag of CO 2 versus Siple Dome isotopic temperature is probable. The Siple Dome CO 2 concentrations during the last glacial termination and in the Holocene are at certain times greater than in other Antarctic ice cores by up to 20 ppm (mmol CO 2 /mol air). While in situ production of CO 2 is one possible cause of the sporadic elevated levels, the mechanism leading to the enrichment is not yet clear.

The recovery of a 1.5 Myr long ice core from Antarctica represents a keystone to our understanding of Quaternary climate, the progression of glaciation over this time period and the role of greenhouse gas cycles in this progression. Here we show that such old ice is most likely to exist in the plateau area of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) without stratigraphic disturbance and should be able to be recovered after careful pre-site selection studies. Based on a simple ice and heat flow model and glaciological observations, we conclude that positions in the vicinity of major domes and saddle positions on the East Antarctic Plateau will most likely have such old ice in store and represent the best study areas for dedicated reconnaissance studies in the near future. In contrast to previous ice core drill site selections, we strongly argue for significantly reduced ice thickness to avoid bottom melting, while at the same time maximizing the resolution and the distance of such old ice to the bedrock. For example for the geothermal heat flux and accumulation conditions at Dome C, an ice thickness lower than 2500 m would be required to find 1.5 Myr old ice. However, the final choice is strongly dependent on the local geothermal heat flux, which is largely unknown for the EAIS and has to be determined beforehand. In addition, the detailed bedrock topography and ice flow history for candidates of an Oldest Ice ice coring site has to be reconstructed. Finally, we argue strongly for rapid access drilling before any full deep ice coring activity commences to bring datable samples to the surface and to allow an age check of the oldest ice