Allan Hills Ice Core Site Selection Radar and Thickness Maps

Allan HILLs Englacial Site (AHILLES) Selection data supports the search for million-year-old ice in Antarctica's Allan Hills Blue Ice Area. The project, led by AMD_USAPDC and using ice-penetrating radar, aims to map ice thickness and isochronous layers to select a drill site for an intermediate-depth ice core. This dataset was last updated in August 2017.

Use Cases

• Select a drill site by analyzing ice-thickness maps and bedrock topography.
• Reconstruct past climate by correlating radar-detected isochronous layers with known dated layers from previous cores.
• Model ice flow conditions using mapped internal layer structures to identify areas favorable for old ice preservation.
• Extend the regional climate record by tracking outcropping dated radar layers across the Allan Hills area.

Strengths

• Targets a continuous climate record potentially spanning at least 1 million years.
• Builds on prior findings of ice approximately 1 million years old only 120 meters below the surface.
• Uses ice-penetrating radar surveys for detailed subsurface mapping.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column details, and sample data are unavailable.
• Dataset is temporally stale, with no updates since 2017.
• Geographic scope is limited to the Allan Hills region of Antarctica.

Provenance

Source

AMD_USAPDC via NASA EarthData.

Collection Method

Ice-penetrating radar surveys for mapping ice thickness and internal layers.

Time Range

Project data from around 2017; ice record targets up to 1+ million years before present.

Freshness

Last updated 2017-08-31; no stated update frequency.

Geography

Allan Hills Blue Ice Area, Antarctica.