We analyse ice cores from Vestfonna ice cap (Nordaustlandet, Svalbard). Oxygen isotopic measurements were made on three firn cores (6.0, 11.0 and 15.5 m deep) from the two highest summits of the glacier located on the SW-NE and NW-SE central ridges. Sub-annual d18O cycles were preserved and could be counted visually in the uppermost parts of the cores, but deeper layers were affected by post-depositional smoothing. A pronounced d18O minimum was found near the bottom of the three cores. We consider candidates for this d18O signal to be a valuable reference horizon since it is also seen elsewhere in Nordaustlandet. We attribute it to isotopically depleted snow precipitation, which NCEP/NCAR reanalysis shows was unusual for Vestfonna, and came from northerly air during the cold winter of 1994/95. Finding the 1994/95 time marker allows establishment of a precise depth/age scale for the three cores. The derived annual accumulation rates indirectly fill a geographical gap in mass balance measurements and thus provide information on spatial and temporal variability of precipitation over the glacier for the period spanned by the cores (1992-2009). Comparing records at the two locations also reveals that the snow net accumulation at the easternmost part of Vestfonna was only half of that in the western part over the last 17 years.

More information on Austfonna and Vestfonna ice cores can be found in Watanabe et al. (2001) datasets: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.807186. Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150

Supplement to: Beaudon, Emilie; Arppe, Laura; Jonsell, Ulf; Martma, Tõnu; Möller, Marco; Pohjola, Veijo A; Scherer, Dieter; Moore, John C (2011): Spatial and temporal variability of net accumulation from shallow cores from vestfonna ice cap (Nordaustlandet, Svalbard). Geografiska Annaler Series A-Physical Geography, 93A(4), 287-299