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Antarctica2k Ice Core Database and Temperature Reconstructions (2017)

Current version: v1.1

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Citation details Barbara Stenni, Mark A. J. Curran, Nerilie J. Abram, Anais Orsi, Sentia Goursaud, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Raphael Neukom, Hugues Goosse, Dmitry Divine, Tas van Ommen, Eric J. Steig, Daniel A. Dixon, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Elisabeth Isaksson, Alexey Ekaykin, Martin Werner, and Massimo Frezzotti. 2017. Antarctic climate variability on regional and continental scales over the last 2000 years. Climate of the Past, 13(11), 1609-1634. doi: 10.5194/cp-13-1609-2017

Summary of Database

This study presents a database of ice core water stable isotope records from Antarctica, built by the PAGES Antarctica2k working group as part of the PAGES2k global temperature database (PAGES 2017). Oxygen isotope (δ18O; 94 records) and deuterium isotope (δD; 18 records) are used to produce composite an temperature reconstructions for seven areas across the Antarctic continental region, as well as for three broader regions (East Antarctica, West Antarctica, and the entire continent) over the Common Era. These reconstructions build on previous work by the Antarctic2k group ( Nicolas and Bromwich, 2014) which sought to reconstruct near-surface temperature from 1958-2012 for the Antarctic region.

A total of 112 records were included in the database, and used the following initial screening criteria from the PAGES2k global temperature database:

  • Data must be previously published and publicly archived
  • The proxies must be related to climate variables
  • The data must have at least 1 observation per 50years (majority of records have 1 observation every 10years or less).
  • A minimum chronology of two control points, with one at either end of the record.

This database expanded the required record length (originally 300-2000years) to include shorter records, with stratigraphic control from volcanic markers, as well as annual band layer counting internal chronology included where available. However records which did not meet a minimum length requirement of 30years of data post 1800CE were excluded from the 5-year reconstruction for the past 200 years. Similarly, records needed a minimum data coverage of 90 years from 0-1800CE to be included in the 10-year binned reconstructions. Respectively, 79 and 67 records met these requirements and were included in the reconstructions. Both weighted and un-weighted composite methods were used for regional reconstructions, and further detail into these methods can be found in the methods and supplementary sections of the data descriptor publication ( Stenni et al., 2017).

How to access database:

The database is archived long term on WDS Paleo, and the study page can be accessed via the link below, or at the top of this page. The study page contains all citation and metadata information, as well as a data folder for downloading the data itself. The contents of this data folder are summarized in the table below.

> Access data (WDS Paleo)

file/folder Description
readme_CPS_files.txt Read me file describing the data found in this database, as well as information about the publication, and funding agency.
DMLicecore data folder contains .xlsx and .txt files for all Dronning Maud Land ice core d18O and accumulation data. files are organised by site number.
CPSrecons data folder Contains .csv files of CPS reconstructions for each sub-region, as well as a combined All_regions_CPS file. A readme file specific for CPS files is also included
Table S1 .txt and .xlsx files of the database metadata as a supplementary table, listing the records used in each reconstruction and their metadata information.
Data figure files .txt files containing source data to recreate each of the figures in the publication, as well as regional mean and site extraction data. The specifics of each data file are described in the readme_file

Want to get involved with the PAGES2k network?

This Database is now closed, however the CLIVASH2k working group are developing an updated chemical based antarctic database. This can be found in the phase 3 projects sidebar umbrella. For more information, to contact the project leaders, or to join the mailing list, visit the CLIVASH2k main page. To see all PAGES2k Network working groups and projects, visit the PAGES2k Network main page.