Abstract. Fabric (distribution of crystallographic orientations) along the full NEEM ice core, Greenland was measured in the field by an automatic ice texture analyzer every 10 m, from 33 m down to 2461 m depth. The fabric evolves from a slightly anisotropic fabric at the top, toward a strong single maximum at about 2300 m, which is typical of a deformation pattern mostly driven by uniaxial compression and simple shearing. A sharp increase in the fabric strengthening rate is observed at the Holocene to Wisconsin (HW) climatic transition. From a simple model we estimate that this depth is located at a transition from a state dominated by vertical compression to a state dominated by vertical shear. Comparisons are made to two others ice cores drilled along the same ridge; the GRIP ice core, drilled at the summit of the ice sheet, and the NGRIP ice core, drilled 325 km to the NNW of the summit along the ridge, and 365 km upstream from NEEM. This comparison tends to demonstrate that the ice viscosity change with the HW climatic transition must be associated with the shear-dominated state to induce the abrupt fabric strengthening observed at NEEM. This comparison therefore reflects the increasing role of shear deformation on the coring site when moving NW along the ridge from GRIP to NGRIP and NEEM. The difference in fabric profiles between NEEM and NGRIP also evidences a stronger lateral extension associated with a sharper ridge at NGRIP. Further along the core, centimeter scale abrupt texture (fabric and microstructure) variations are observed in the bottom part of the core. Their positions are in good agreement with the observed folding layers in Dahl-Jensen et al. (2013).

Microstructures from deep ice cores reflect the dynamic conditions of the drill location as well as the thermodynamic history of the drill site and catchment area in great detail. Ice core parameters (crystal lattice-preferred orientation (LPO), grain size, grain shape), mesostructures (visual stratigraphy) as well as borehole deformation were measured in a deep ice core drilled at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land (DML), Antarctica. These observations are used to characterize the local dynamic setting and its rheological as well as microstructural effects at the EDML ice core drilling site (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica in DML). The results suggest a division of the core into five distinct sections, interpreted as the effects of changing deformation boundary conditions from triaxial deformation with horizontal extension to bedrock-parallel shear. Region 1 (uppermost approx. 450 m depth) with still small macroscopic strain is dominated by compression of bubbles and strong strain and recrystallization localization. Region 2 (approx. 450–1700 m depth) shows a girdle-type LPO with the girdle plane being perpendicular to grain elongations, which indicates triaxial deformation with dominating horizontal extension. In this region (approx. 1000 m depth), the first subtle traces of shear deformation are observed in the shape-preferred orientation (SPO) by inclination of the grain elongation. Region 3 (approx. 1700–2030 m depth) represents a transitional regime between triaxial deformation and dominance of shear, which becomes apparent in the progression of the girdle to a single maximum LPO and increasing obliqueness of grain elongations. The fully developed single maximum LPO in region 4 (approx. 2030–2385 m depth) is an indicator of shear dominance. Region 5 (below approx. 2385 m depth) is marked by signs of strong shear, such as strong SPO values of grain elongation and strong kink folding of visual layers. The details of structural observations are compared with results from a numerical ice sheet model (PISM, isotropic) for comparison of strain rate trends predicted from the large-scale geometry of the ice sheet and borehole logging data. This comparison confirms the segmentation into these depth regions and in turn provides a wider view of the ice sheet.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Microdynamics of ice’.

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