Accumulation and temperature changes in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica in the past 250 years

A 50 m firn core drilled in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica, during the 1996/1997 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Expedition, has been measured for δ18O and major ions. Based on these data, the features of the climate change in the investigated region in the past 250 years have first been studied. In the past 250 years, the change trend of climate in this region can be divided into two periods by the year 1860. Both the temperature and accumulation rate display increasing trend before 1860, while after 1860, the decreasing trend of the temperature is obvious but the change of the accumulation rate is not clear. Although both the temperature and the accumulation rate are increasing in the past 50 years, they are not the highest values in the past 250 years. So it is clear that the climate change in this region during this period does not reflect recent global warming.