Reconciliation of Temperature-Depth Profiles in Polar Ice Sheets with Past Surface Temperatures Deduced from Oxygen-Isotope Profiles

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Abstract
Investigations of isotopic and temperature profiles in polar ice sheets were mostly carried out independently of one another until 1973 when a workshop dealing with both topics was held in Cambridge. Studies of temperature profiles show the approximate validity of theoretically derived temperature distributions for steady-state models of ice sheets, while other analyses help to determine departures from the steady state. The review gives some idea of the degree of accuracy of various solutions arising from studies of the heat flow and temperature distribution of ice sheets. Much of this knowledge is directly applicable to interpretation of isotopic profiles if a direct correspondence between mean isotopic δ values and mean annual temperatures can be established. The paper therefore reviews various methods of comparing δ values and temperatures, and shows that for central regions of polar ice sheets a reasonably consistent relationship between these factors does exist.