Articles | Volume 10, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2099-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2099-2016
Research article
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15 Sep 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 15 Sep 2016

Dispersion in deep polar firn driven by synoptic-scale surface pressure variability

Christo Buizert and Jeffrey P. Severinghaus

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Cited articles

Adolph, A. C. and Albert, M. R.: Gas diffusivity and permeability through the firn column at Summit, Greenland: measurements and comparison to microstructural properties, The Cryosphere, 8, 319–328, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-319-2014, 2014.
Barnes, P. R. F., Wolff, E. W., and Mulvaney, R.: A 44 kyr paleoroughness record of the Antarctic surface, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D03102, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006349, 2006.
Battle, M., Bender, M., Sowers, T., Tans, P. P., Butler, J. H., Elkins, J. W., Ellis, J. T., Conway, T., Zhang, N., Lang, P., and Clarket, A. D.: Atmospheric gas concentrations over the past century measured in air from firn at the South Pole, Nature, 383, 231–235, 1996.
Battle, M. O., Severinghaus, J. P., Sofen, E. D., Plotkin, D., Orsi, A. J., Aydin, M., Montzka, S. A., Sowers, T., and Tans, P. P.: Controls on the movement and composition of firn air at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 11007–11021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-11007-2011, 2011.
Bay, R., Rohde, R., Price, P., and Bramall, N.: South Pole paleowind from automated synthesis of ice core records, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 115, D14126, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013741, 2010.
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Short summary
The upper 50–100 m of the world's ice sheets consists of the firn layer, a porous layer of snow that is slowly compacted by overlying snow. Understanding air movement inside the firn is critical for ice core climate reconstructions. Buizert and Severinghaus identify and describe a new mechanism of firn air movement. High- and low-pressure systems force air movement in the firn that drives strong mixing, called dispersion. Dispersion is the main mechanism for air mixing in the deep firn.