The Japanese second deep ice coring project was carried out at Dome Fuji, Antarctica. Following the drilling of the pilot hole in 2001, deep ice core drilling led by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) was conducted over four austral summer seasons, beginning with the 2003/04 season and reached a depth of 3035.22 m near the bedrock in January 2007. The new drill was designed and developed with the goals of (1) solving the problems encountered during the first JARE deep coring drill and (2) achieving more efficient drilling. In particular, the maximum core length that can be drilled at one time was increased from 2.30 m to 3.84 m and the chip storage efficiency was enhanced by a special pipe with many small holes. This paper gives an outline of the improved drilling system, the progress of drilling and various drilling data.

In order to find environmental signals based on the dust and calcium-ion concentrations in ice cores, we determine the constituent elements of residue particles obtained after melting ice samples. We have designed a sublimating system that operates at −45°C, below the eutectic temperatures of major salts. This system permits us to obtain a great many non-volatile particles. After studying the non-volatile particles, we immersed them in water to remove soluble particles and compounds. We thereby analyzed a total of 1272 residue particles (from the melted sample), 2418 non-volatile particles (after sublimation) and 1463 insoluble particles taken from five sections of Last Glacial Maximum ice from the Dome Fuji (Antarctica) ice core. Their constituent elements were determined by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and compared to the dust, calcium-ion and sodium-ion concentrations measured by ion chromatography. Our results indicate that >99.9% of the insoluble particles contain silicon but no sulfur, nitrogen or chlorine. A significant number of the non-volatile particles, however, contain sulfur and chlorine. We conclude that insoluble dust consists mostly of silicate, that almost all calcium ions originate from calcium sulfate and that almost all sodium ions originate from sodium sulfate and sodium chloride.

We describe field measurements (ground-penetrating radar (GPR), geodetic survey and ice-core drilling) to provide new information on the movement mechanism and internal structure of a polar rock glacier on James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula. We collected GPR data along longitudinal and transverse profiles. The longitudinal GPR profiles identify inter-bedded debris-rich layers that dip up-glacier, similar to the thrust structures in the compression zone of a valley glacier. The transverse GPR profiles indicate a syncline structure inclined towards the central part of the rock glacier, resembling the transverse foliation of a valley glacier. The stratigraphy of two boreholes shows that the rock glacier consists primarily of bubbly ice with thin debris-rich layers, an internal structure similar to the ‘nested spoons’ structure common in the interior of valley glaciers. These results indicate that the glacier motion is controlled by shear movement, common in valley glaciers. The geodetic survey confirms that flow velocities decrease towards the lower part of the rock glacier. Such heterogeneous movement causes longitudinal compression and forms thrusts which then create the debris-rich layer by uplifting basal ice and debris. Pushing of the upstream ice against the downstream ice bends the surface layers, forming transverse ridges on the rock glacier surface.

We analyzed the profiles of ionic chemical species in three 500 mm sections of an ice core from Dome Fuji, Antarctica, dated 3.0, 8.9 and 13.3 kyr BP (before present), and compared the profiles to those in the surface snow. The 3.0 and 8.9 kyr sections are from the Holocene and the 13.3 kyr section slightly predates the Holocene. The analyses were done on 2 mm thick slices within each section. At each depth, the primary ionic species were Na+, H+, Cl– and SO42 A The SO42, Na+ and Mg2+ levels varied with depth in each section over distances ranging from several millimeters to several centimeters. Also, the correlation coefficients between Na+ and SO4 and between Mg2+ and SO42 for each depth were 0.90 or greater, in contrast to the value of 0.59 or less in the surface snow (defined here as 0–3.4 m from the surface). These results suggest that almost all Na+ and Mg2+ in the Holocene ice exists as Na2SO4 and MgSO4 salts, and the formation of these salts occurs not only in the atmosphere during transport, but also in the firn layer.

We measured the depth profiles of soluble ions in the Dome Fuji (Antarctica) ice core to search for possible paleoclimate indications of seasonal climate variations in the last glacial period. A 523 mm long core section between 587.65 and 588.18 m depth was selected for this pilot study, and the high-resolution chemical analysis was done on 2 mm thick samples. Our results indicate that anion– cation trapping in ice affects the profiles of the soluble ions and [Na+] in the core may preserve its seasonal signal. Correlation coefficients and the equivalent balances of the soluble ions suggest the following selective coexistences: (1) [Cl–] = [Na+], (2) [NO3–] = 1/2[Ca2+] + [K+], and (3) [SO42–] = 1/2[Ca2+] + [H+] + [Mg2+]. These coexistences are probably due to (1) a sea-salt source of Na+ and Cl–, (2) reaction of NO3– with dust for Ca2+ and NO3–, and (3) anion–cation trapping in ice for SO42– and Ca2+ (Mg2+), respectively.

Twenty-six ash layers were found in a 2503 m deep ice core from Dome Fuji station, East Antarctica. In order to gain information about the sources of ash particles found in the layers, major and trace element abundances have been measured. The particles found in 21 of the 26 layers were commonly a few tens of μm in size, suggesting that they originated from volcanoes located in and around the Antarctic. On the basis of comparison of the major-element compositions of these tephras with reference to volcanic rocks and ash, the tephras were divided into three types: (1) tholeiitic basalt to dacite, (2) calc-alkaline andesite, and (3) trachyandesite to trachyte. The source regions appear to be (1) South Sandwich Islands, Southern Ocean, (2) South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, and/or a southern part of the volcanic zone of the Andes, and (3) Marie Byrd Land and/or Victoria Land, Antarctica, respectively. The tephras found in the other five ash layers were significantly smaller (< 5 μm), suggesting that they traveled over longer distances. Abundances of trace elements for the alkaline tephra collected from one layer revealed a possible genetic link to volcanic rocks from Marie Byrd Land. In order to correlate between ice cores from Dome Fuji and Vostok, Antarctica, which are widely separated, we found coeval ash layers serving as stratigraphic markers of Antarctic ice cores. A comparison of profiles of 18O/16O (δ18O) and 2H/1H (δD) for the Dome Fuji and Vostok cores indicates that eight ash layers are equivalent in the two cores. A clear correlation was found for the chemical compositions of six of these ash layers, indicating a high potential for key correlation beds between the deep ice cores from Dome Fuji and Vostok.

Long-term changes of snow-accumulation rate in Antarctica are a major uncertainty in our understanding of past climate. Because the visible strata in polar ice are due to variations in the sizes and concentrations of air inclusions and microparticles, the scattered light intensity from an ice core yields valuable information on the stratification, which is likely to provide estimates of the annual accumulation rates. Identification of each layer is therefore necessary, and we developed an optical scanner apparatus to record detailed visible strata of ice cores. The apparatus records the two-dimensional distribution of light-scattering intensity along ice-core samples and produces an image of the whole ice-core sample by an image analysis process. These images showed that ice from Dome Fuji ice core contained a large number of layers. Volcanic layers were also well identified. We processed the scattering intensity on the enhanced intensity images to produce an intensity profile. This profile showed that the period of the intensity variations is consistent with a core-dating model applied to the Dome Fuji ice core. We also found that the intensity peaks are closely correlated to peaks in Ca2+ ion concentrations. Thus, our scanning method is a promising approach to measuring annual-layer thickness and, as a result, may be used to infer past accumulation rates in Antarctica.

Laboratory experiments were done to better understand the electrical conduction mechanisms of impure, polycrystalline ice as represented by the 2503 m Dome Fuji (Antarctica) ice core. Also, two electrical measurement techniques for ice cores were compared and their usefulness for determining the acidity of ice cores was studied. We measured the electrical conductivity and complex permittivity of 167 slab-ice samples at frequencies from 20 Hz to 1 MHz. Measurements were performed at –21˚C for all samples, and at –110˚ to –20˚C for several samples, to examine the effects of temperature. We found linear relations between the AC loss factor and the molarity of sulfuric acid, and between the high-frequency-limit conductivity and the AC loss factor. Thus, the acidity levels can be determined from the AC loss factor. In contrast, the electrical conductivity measurement (ECM) current correlated weakly with the other parameters; furthermore, the correlation worsens at larger signal. In several samples containing high acidity, the dielectric properties had distinct changes near –81˚C. We argue that these changes were caused by a change from a liquid-vein-mediated conduction mechanism above the eutectic point of the solute/water/ ice system to a solid-phase conduction mechanism at lower temperatures.

During the past 220 years, prominent signals of non-sea salt sulfate ion (nssSO42–) concentration exceeding the background level, including both marine biogenic and anthropogenic SO42–, were found in shallow ice cores from site H15 in East Antarctica and Site-J in southern Greenland. They were mostly correlated with past explosive volcanic eruptions. on the basis of this result and published results of shallow ice cores and snow pits at various locations on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, eight common signals were found, of which six were assigned to the following explosive eruptions: El Chichόn, Mexico, in 1982; Agung, Indonesia, in 1963; Santa Maria, Guatemala, in 1902; Krakatau, Indonesia, in 1883; Cosiguina, Nicaragua, in 1835; an unknown volcano between 1831 and 1834; Tambora, Indonesia, in 1815; and an unknown volcano in 1809. Volcanic eruptions which have a potential to imprint their signals in both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets were characterized by (1) location in low latitudes between 20˚N and 10˚ S, and (2) eruption column height ≥25 km, corresponding to a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) ≥5.

The 320 kyr climatic record from the 2503 m Dome Fuji (Antarctica) ice core was analyzed using two electrical methods: AC-ECM and ECM (electrical conductivity measurements). AC-ECM is a method to detect the complex admittance between electrodes dragged on the ice surface with mm-scale resolution and uses 1V and 1 MHz. the ratio of the real to imaginary part of the admittance is the AC loss factor, which responds linearly to the amount of sulfuric acid and hydrogen ions. Both the AC loss factor and the ECM current respond to acid, but the ECM signal tends to saturate at high acidities. Dome Fuji ice was measured to be highly acidic, with background values of 2–7 μM, and had 4500 major peaks with acidities of up to 90 μM. This ice-core evidence and earlier snow-chemistry survey around the dome region indicates that Dome F may have a better connection to the stratosphere than have sites at lower altitude, which allows more stratospheric aerosol and gases to reach the snow surface. Acidity tends to be high in interglacial periods, but correlation between acidity and δ18O is not straightforward. Electrical signals decreased and smoothed out with increasing depth; the diffusion coefficients deduced from this smoothing were 10–102 times greater than in solid ice. the ice core exhibited electromechanical effects and expelling effects from sulfate peaks.

The Antarctic ice sheet preserves paleoclimate information in the form of physical and chemical stratigraphy. A deep ice core down to 2503 m depth was drilled at Dome Fuji station, East Antarctica, during the 1993-96 Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition inland operations. Oxygen isotope measurements were conducted on 50 cm long samples selected from the entire core length. A palco-temperature profile was obtained for the past 340 ka by assuming the same conversion factors for the past relation as exist today between isotope ratio and both surface temperature and accumulation rate, in the inland region of Dronning Maud Land. The environmental-index profiles such as major chemical and dust contents coincide quite well withVostok ice-core data in general but not in detail. Detailed analysis of these climatic and environmental signals is in progress.

We consider, for a given large prime p, the problem of covering a square [0, p] × [0, p] with discs center at the lattice point (x, y), x and y subject to condition xy ≡ 1 (mod p) and with radius r. We are concerned with the size of r.

Glaciological investigations were carried out in 1994 on the glaciers in Hidden Valley, Mukut Himal, Nepal Himalayas, in order to make a comparison with observations made in 1974. Most of the glaciers were found to have retreated by 30–60 m in terminus elevation over the 20 years between the two studies. Rikha Samba Glacier, the longest glacier in the valley, has retreated by about 200m. The areal average of the amount of surface lowering and the volume loss of the glacier was estimated to be 12.6 m ice equivalent and 13% of the total mass, respectively. The annual mass balance of −0.35 m a−1 water equivalent was obtained as an average for 20 years, which is one of the largest negative values amongst small glaciers of the world.

SEM observations of microparticles in ice-core samples retrieved by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in east Dronning Maud Land have been carried out since 1987. Morphology and elemental composition by EDS of many microparticles taken from various depths of the 700 m Mizuho ice core were compared with each other and with those of stratospheric microparticles in NASA Cosmic Dust Catalogs and microparticles hitherto found in deep ice cores retrieved in Antarctica. Number concentrations of microparticles were measured on all samples throughout the 700 m Mizuho ice core. Remarkable fluctuations found in the depth profile of the concentration seem to coincide with cold climates indicated by δ18O of the same core. Compositional analysis of volcanic ash at a depth of 500.7 m in the Mizuho ice core, dated at approximately 6000 years BP, indicates that the ash originated from the South Sandwich Islands.

Dry and wet air-extraction systems and precise analysis systems of the CO2 and CH4 concentrations for a polar ice core were developed to reconstruct their ancient levels. A dry-extraction system was capable of crushing an ice sample of 1000 g into fine powder within 2 min, and its air-extraction efficiency was found to be 98%. The CO2 and CH4 concentrations of extracted air were determined using gas chromatography with a flame-ionized detector. The overall precision of our measurements, including air extraction, was estimated to be better than ± 1 ppmv for CO2 and + 10 ppbv for CH4. Preliminary analysis of the ice core drilled at Mizuho Station, Antarctica, showed that the CO2 and CH4 concentrations at 3340–3700 year BP were about 280 ppmv and 700ppbv, respectively. The Yamato core drilled at the terminus of the glacial flow near the Yamato Mountains, Antarctica, yielded concentrations of 230–240 ppmv for CO2 and 520–550 ppbv for CH4, suggesting that the core had formed during the glacial period.

Recently, a 700 m long ice core was drilled at Mizuho Station (2230 m a.s.1.), 270 km south-east of Syowa Station and situated in a typical katabatic-slope region.

In order to obtain basic knowledge for dating the core and for interpreting climatic change and depositional environment change along the core, a study of the regional characteristics of the snow-deposition regime on Mizuho plateau has started. Surface-firn cores 10–30 m deep and snow-stake data obtained along the traverse routes on Mizuho plateau since 1970 were analyzed.

The general trend of annual snow accumulation and the regional characteristics of the δ18O profile of snow cover were obtained.

Surface features were classified morphologically and described along oversnow traverse routes from the coast to the inland high plateau of east Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, during the 1984 and 1985 summer seasons. The distribution of surface features reveals regional characteristics which reflect differences in the regional deposition-erosion process.

On the basis of observation of surface features and measurements of surface mass balance, the ice-sheet surface of east Queen Maud Land is sub-divided according to different environmental zones:

1. (1) Ablation zone (below 700 m a.s.l.): melting of snow occurs. Dry snow line approximates the altitude where the maximum air temperature is 0°C.

2. (2) Coastal continuous accumulation zone (700–1800 m a.s.l.): snow accumulation occurs continuously and the surface is flat because of high snow precipitation and a slight katabatic wind.

3. (3) Discontinuous accumulation zone (1800–2500 m a.s.l.): a rough surface of sastrugi dominates this zone. Snow accumulation is discontinuous in space and time because of low snow precipitation and strong katabatic wind. Negative annual snow accumulation was observed at 20–30% of the stakes set every 2 km along the traverse route. Mizuho Station is located in this zone.

4. (4) Long-term accumulation-free zone (2500–3400 m a.s.l.): long-term absence of snow accumulation occurs at the glazed surface, which consists of a multi-layered ice crust several millimetres thick. A glazed surface develops over a distance of 1–20 km when the surface undulation is steeper, and covers 30–50% of the area in this zone. A hiatus sequence of snow accumulation is thought to continue for about 10–100 years over the glazed surface region.

5. (5) Inland continuous accumulation zone (above 3400 m a.s.l.): a flat surface dominates in this zone. Snow accumulation occurs continuously because there is a weak katabatic wind in the central high plateau in spite of a very small amount of precipitation.

The present paper gives the preliminary results of the analyses on microparticle concentration and electrical conductivity of a 700.56 m ice core from Mizuho Station, Antarctica. Concentration of microparticles coarser than 0.63 μm in diameter increases more than twofold at the 240-440 m depth interval compared with that below 440 m in depth. The higher particle concentration is well associated with higher electrical conductivity and lower δ18O. Periods of high particle concentration are estimated to be 3000-6000 years B.P. A visible volcanic dirt band was found at 500.7 m below the surface. This dirt band may be isochronous with the shallowest ash band of the Byrd Station core, found at 799 m depth. The present study indicates that large-scale environmental changes possibly occurred in the Southern Hemisphere in the middle of the Holocene.