Oxygen Isotopic Studies of Ice, Snow and Water Samples near the Indian Stations in Antarctica

Oxygen isotopic ratios in water samples collected from various sources (recent snow, glacier ice, coastal sea, lakes etc.) near the two Indian stations in Antarctica (Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri) have been measured. The general range of δ¹⁸O values is from -14 to -30 (in ‰ w.r.t SMOW). The fresh water lakes in the Schirmacher Range area receive 30 to 40% of their input from melt water of adjoining glacier. This glacier has old ice characterized by extremely depleted δ¹⁸O value of -42‰ at the shallow depth of 10 m. This is not normally expected and can complicate interpretation of δ¹⁸O profile in cores from this region for palaeoclimatic studies.