Stable isotopes in the basal silty ice preserved in the Greenland Ice Sheet at Summit; environmental implications 

Geophysical Research Letters, 21, p. 693-696, 1994. 

R. Souchez
Departement des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement, Universite Libre de Bruxelles CP160/03, 50, avenue F.D. Roosevelt, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
J.-L. Tison
R. Lorrain
M. Lemmens
L. Janssens
M. Stievenard
J. Jouzel
A. Sveinbjörnsdottir
S.J. Johnsen
Geofysisk Afdeling, Niels Bohr Instituttet for Astronomi, Fysik og Geofysik, Københavns Universitet

ABSTRACT.
Modelling ice sheet behaviour in the context of climatic changes depends on initial and boundary conditions which can be better defined by studying the composition of basal ice. This study deals with basal ice reached by deep drilling at Summit in Central Greenland (GRIP core). The isotopic composition of this ice indicates that ice formed at the ground surface in the absence of the ice sheet largely contributed to its formation. The basal silty ice is a remnant of a growing stage of the ice sheet, possibly the original build up.