Abstract: The temperature field within ice sheets results from interactions between heat transfert, ice dynamics and boundary conditions such as geothermal heat flux and surface temperature. Therefore information concerning these factors can be inferred from the observed temperature profile in deep boreholes drilled in ice.
We present here a temperature profile measured in november 2008 in the EPICA Dome C borehole. The high-resolution of the measurements allows to estimate the temporal and spatial characteristics of temperature perturbation due to fluid convection.
The observed temperature profile indicates that the ice-bed interface is at the melting point . The vertical temperature gradient is not consistent with a 1D temperature field and this point must be clarified before using the temperature profile as a paleo thermometer.
Poster presented at the EPICA meeting – Roma, April 2010