¹⁸O concentrations in sea ice of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica

We present data on ice texture, salinity, and δ¹⁸O obtained from identical sections of ice cores during the Winter Weddell Sea Project 1986 on RV Polarstern from July through August 1986, in the longitude range between 5°W and 7°E. We find no uniquely definable relationship between δ¹⁸O values and ice texture in a particular section. However, most of the snow ice as well as some sections of frazil ice are found to have negative δ¹⁸O concentrations. This is due to varying degrees of admixtures of meteoric ice (snow) and sea-water during formation of snow ice. In contrast to common assumptions, our results seem to indicate that a snow cover contributes positively to sea-ice growth rather than slowing down the overall growth rate. -from Authors