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The response of Arctic ice masses to climate change is studied using ice cores containing information on past climatic and environmental features. Interpretation of this information requires accurate chronological data. Absolute dating of ice cores from sub-polar Arctic glaciers is possible using well-known radioactive layers deposited by atmospheric nuclear tests (maximum fallout in 1963) and the Chernobyl accident (1986). Analysis of several isotopes (3H, 137Cs) shows that 3H provides the most accurate dating of the 1963 maximum, as indicated also in comparison with results from total-beta measurements (90Sr and 137Cs). Mean annual net mass balances are derived from the dated ice cores from 1963 up to the date of the drillings. The 137Cs and 3H deposited by nuclear tests, after decay correction, are used to define a melt index for all 13 ice cores studied. The relative strength of melting and percolation post-depositional processes is studied on the basis of these 137Cs and 3H deposits.

A medium-length ice core was drilled at the ice divide on the Lomonosovfonna plateau (1230 m a.s.l.), Svalbard, in May 1997. As part of this project, temperature measurements were performed in the 120m deep borehole. At this site the ice thickness based on radar measurements is 126.5 m and the mean annual accumulation rate is 380 kg m–3. the measurements over the 15–120m depth interval show a nearly isothermal profile with a mean value of –2.8˚C and a standard deviation of 0.2˚C. the measurements reveal a temperature minimum at approximately 70m depth and a temperature gradient of 0.011 ±0.004˚Cm–1 near the bottom. the temperature minimum and relatively low temperature gradient cannot be explained in terms of a steady-state climate. Numerical calculations with a simple one-dimensional diffusion–advection model show that the temperature increased at a maximum rate of 0.02–0.025Ka–1 over the last 100 years, the total temperature increase amounting to 2.0–3.0K. Forcing the model with the observed record at Svalbard airport revealed that in the 19th century the surface temperature was at most 2.5 K lower, and that the instrumental observations started during a period with temperatures comparable to the end of the 19th century. the data are of particular interest for historical simulations since often no other temperature data are available in polar areas.

A 50 MHz ground-penetrating radar was used to detect horizontal layers in the snowpack along a longitudinal profile on Nordenskjöldbreen, a Svalbard glacier. The profile passed two shallow and one deep ice-core sites. Two internal radar reflection layers were dated using parameters measured in the deep core. Radar travel times were converted to water equivalent, yielding snow-accumulation rates along the profile for three time periods: 1986–99, 1963–99 and 1963–86. The results show 40–60% spatial variability in snow accumulation over short distances along the profile. The average annual accumulation rate for 1986–99 was found to be about 12% higher than for the period 1963–86, which indicates increased accumulation in the late 1980s and 1990s.

We present the snow-accumulation distribution over Austfonna, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard, based on 29 shallow ice cores that were retrieved from this ice cap during 1998 and 1999. Mean annual net accumulation is deduced from radioactive layers resulting from the 1954–74 atmospheric nuclear tests (maximum in 1963) and the Chernobyl accident (1986). The Chernobyl layer was located in 19 ice cores in the accumulation area, and the nuclear test layer was located in two deeper ice cores. In addition, the spatial variation of the depth of winter 1998/99 snowpack was mapped using snow probing, ground-penetrating radar methods and pit studies. The altitudinal gradient of the mean annual net mass balance and the altitude of the mean equilibrium line are determined along five transects ending at the top of the ice cap. The mean annual net mass balance and the equilibrium-line altitudes show a high degree of asymmetry between the western and eastern parts of Austfonna, in accordance with the distribution of winter accumulation. Large interannual variations of the accumulation exist. However, the study of the mean annual net mass balance shows no trend for two different time periods, 1963–86 and 1986 to the date of the drillings (1998/99).

During the Nordic EPICA pre-site survey in Dronning Maud Land in 1997/1998 a 120 m long ice core was retrieved (76°00′S 08°03′W, 2400 m above sea level). The whole core has been measured using the electric conductivity measurement (ECM) and dielectric profiling (DEP) techniques, and the core chronology has been established by detecting major volcanic eruptions. In a nearby shallow core radioactive traces from nuclear tests conducted during the 1950s and 1960s have been identified. Altogether, 13 ECM and DEP peaks in the long core are identified as originating from specific volcanic eruptions. In addition two peaks of increased total β activity are identified in the short core. Accumulation is calculated as averages over the time periods between these dated events. Accumulation rate is 62 millimetres (w. eq./yr) for the last 181 years (1816 A.D. to present) and 61 mm w. eq./yr for the last 1457 years (540 A.D. to present). Our record shows an 8% decrease in accumulation between 1452 and 1641 A.D. (i.e. part of the Little Ice Age), compared to the long-term mean.

Temperature, density and accumulation data were obtained from shallow firn cores, drilled during an overland traverse through a previously unknown part of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The traverse area is characterised by high mountains that obstruct the ice flow, resulting in a sudden transition from the polar plateau to the coastal region. The spatial variations of potential temperature, near-surface firn density and accumulation suggest that katabatic winds are active in this region. Proxy wind data derived from firn-density profiles confirm that annual mean wind speed is strongly related to the magnitude of the surface slope. The high elevation of the ice sheet south of the mountains makes for a dry, cold climate, in which mass loss owing to sublimation is small and erosion of snow by the wind has a potentially large impact on the surface mass balance. A simple katabatic-wind model is used to explain the variations of accumulation along the traverse line in terms of divergence/convergence of the local transport of drifting snow. The resulting wind- and snowdrift patterns are closely connected to the topography of the ice sheet: ridges are especially sensitive to erosion, while ice streams and other depressions act as collectors of drifting snow.

For glaciological and meteorological reasons Mount Elbrus, Caucasus, was chosen as a site for physical and chemical pilot studies of ice cores. This study was the first step towards systematic studies of impurities in glacier ice on Mount Elbrus. In 1900 two ice cores, each 17 m deep and spaced 10 m apart, were taken at an elevation of 4100 m on the Bolshoy Azau glacier on the western slopes of Mount Elbrus. The cores were used for different physical and chemical analyses. Structure, texture and ice microstructure were studied. Chemical analyses of major ions (SO4 2−, NO3−, K+ and Na+) and measurements of insoluble light-absorbing material and radioactivity (137Cs and total β activity) were made. With the results of the physical and chemical analyses of these two ice cores, the possibilities of utilising the ice for the study of trace substances deposited after long-range transport from Europe were explored. Ice-stratigraphic methods made it possible to establish the annual accumulation rate. A reference horizon was established from the depth variation of 137Cs and total β activities that showed a well-defined peak of their activities coinciding in time with the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The results of this study show that Mount Elbrus is a useful archive for atmospheric composition downwind of Europe.

A mass-balance programme was initiated on Jutulstraumen ice stream, western Dronning Maud Land,Antarctica, during the austral summer 1992-93. As a part of the mass-balance programme, accumulation rate was measured along the centre line of Jutulstraumen from the shelf edge up to the plateau at about 2500 m a.s.l. Accumulation distribution obtained from seven shallow firn cores and 48 slake readings is presented. The overall net accumulation trend displays a decreasing accumulation with increasing elevation and distance to coast, but on both the mesoscale and microscale there are significant variations. This is due to complex patterns of precipitation controlled by orography and redistribution by katabatic winds. The local accumulation distribution (few km scale) was found to be dependent on downslope surface gradient (aspect north, northwest), and variations up to 100% were found over distances of less than 3 km. The large variation in accumulation is important when selecting new core sites and for interpretation of temporal and spatial variations in accumulation derived from firn cores.

In order to determine the equilibrium line (EL) and the annual net mass balance over the accumulation area of Finsterwalderbreen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard (by detection of the 1962–63 radioactive peak from the 1961–62 atmospheric nuclear tests), we collected 14 ice cores, at elevations of 445–730 m, in the springs of 1994 and 1995. The corresponding samples were melted and filtered for laboratory gamma spectrometry. In the accumulation area, the 1962–63 radioactive layer is found well below the surface. The mean annual accumulation is not invariably related to altitude. The EL, averaged to 545 in a.s.l., leads to an accumulation area ratio of 0.3 and indicates a strong negative balance. The 584 Bq m−2 mean137 Cs deposition rate (1954–74 nuclear tests) for eight ice cores in the accumulation area is nearly twice the 340 Bq m−2 mean Svalbard value obtained from six other glaciers (at time of deposition). An in situ gamma-ray detector was lowered down each borehole, and137 Cs levels were recorded. The counting rate is proportional to the apparent deposition rate and the specific activity. The laboratory measurements perfectly match the in situ determinations. In the ablation area, a dust layer and the associated nuclear test deposits are concentrated close to the bare ice surface of the glacier, under the winter snow layer and present maximum 137 Cs and 210 Pb contents. The dust layer acts like a filter for radioactive materials removed from the glacier and its basin by melting and water flow. The original specific activities and deposition rates at a given location are enhanced by adsorption of additional radioactivity on the dust particles. A linear relationship exists between 137 Cs and 210 Pb deposition rates. This process is almost constant for all studied ice cores. The apparent 137 Cs deposition rate for seven ice cores in the ablation area is 465 Bq m−2 (at date of measurement: 1 July 1995).

Glaciological experiments have been carried out at Dôme du Goûter (4300 m a.s.l.), Mont Blanc, in order to understand the flow of firn/ice in this high-altitude Alpine glacierized area. Accumulation measurements from stakes show a very strong spatial variability and an unusual feature of mass-balance fluctuations for the Alps, i.e. the snow accumulation does not show any seasonal patterns. Measured vertical velocities which should match with long-term mean mass balance are consistent with observed accumulations. Therefore, the measurement of vertical velocities seems a good way of quickly obtaining reliable mean accumulation values for several decades in such a region.A simple flow model can be used to determine the main flowlines of the glacier and to propose snow/ice age of core samples from the two boreholes drilled down tο the bedrock in June 1994. These results coincide with radioactivity measurements made to identify the well-known radioactive snow layers of 1963 and 1986. We can hope to obtain ice samples 55–60 years old about 20 or 30 m above the bedrock (110 m deep). Below, the deformation of the ice layers is loo great to be dated accurately.

Natural and artificial radioactivity in the snow of 10 Svalbard glaciers has been measured from 31 ice core samples, drilled between 1981 and 1993. Of these ice cores, seven exhibit the well-known level arising from the fallout of the 1961–1962 atmospheric thermonuclear tests. The second level, due to the Chernobyl accident (26 April 1986), has been detected in all the studied glaciers; the maximum 137 Cs fallout reaches 22 Bq kg −1 and shows a high variability. The natural radioactivity, mostly due to 210 Pb, shows an in-depth variation which is not governed by its half-life (22.2 years). These measurements serve many glaciological purposes: absolute dating of the snow layers; air-snow transger and fallout studies; the determination of mean annual mass balances in the accumulation area of glaciers and their associated spatio-temporal variations.

Analyses of total β and γ radioactivity have been carried out on ten shallow ice cores collected in 1989 and 1990 on Kongsvegen and Sveabreen, Spitsbergen. No peak of total β radioactivity, corresponding to the Chernobyl accident (1986), can be identified. Chernobyl layers were identified by 137Cs and 134Cs activities, and a signal from the nuclear tests in Novaya Zemlya (1961–62), was detected at one location by 137Cs activity. The mean net accumulation for the periods 1986–89 and 1962–88 was estimated for both glaciers. Using topographic data, the mean net ablation on Kongsvegen was estimated for the period 1964–90 and the mean net balances were calculated. The results agree with recent direct glaciological balance measurements. For the period 1986–89, the net accumulation was higher on Sveabreen than on Kongsvegen, and the equilibrium-line altitudes (ELA) were around 450 and 520 m a.s.l., respectively. Kongsvegen had a positive balance of 0.11 m w.eq. and Sveabreen was in equilibrium, whereas for the last 26 years the balance of Kongsvegen was slightly negative (−0.10 m w.eq.) and the ELA was around 560 m a.s.l.

A one-meter-long sediment core was extracted from the middle of Lake Nyos six months after the August 1986 gas burst disaster. Major and trace elements have been determined in twenty samples, including alpha and gamma spectrometry for the radioisotopes. Preliminary results show that: • - 137 Cs is present in uniform concentrations throughout the core. The measured activity (7.3 Bq kg −1 ) corresponds to a total deposit of approximately 1800 Bq m −2 in the one-meter-thick sediment layer, similar in magnitude to the average amounts deposited at these latitudes by atmospheric thermonuclear tests. • - 210 Pb, with a half-life of 22 years, is also uniformly distributed, showing a measured activity of 233 Bq kg −1 , three to four times higher than the values observed in other Cameroon lakes. The activity ratio of 210 Pb to 226 Ra is about 4. These data are interpreted as follows: • - The uniformly distributed 137 Cs and 210 Pb concentrations suggest complete mixing of the top of sediments at the sample location.; • - From the amount of deposited 137 Cs found in the core, this sediment mixing process does not appear to have involved significantly more than that top layer. • - The 210 Pb excess, not supported by 226 Ra, can be explained by an upwards release of radon gas ( 222 Rn) prior to the CO 2 burst.

This article aims to give a comprehensive view of the distribution patterns for natural and artifical radionuclides over Antarctica. We focus this study on137Cs,210Pb and tritium. Applying various statistical methods, we show that the deposition of radionuclides reveals a structured distribution, although local drift redistribution and the snow-surface roughness disturb the representativeness of samples and produce a “noise” effect. The deposition of137Cs over Antarctica (885 TBq) represents 0.09% of the total deposition of this radionuclide in the world and the correlation between137Cs fluxes and accumulation shows two sub-populations. For the stations with a mean annual temperature above −21° C, a strong correlation is found, whereas the correlation is lower for locations with temperatures below −21° C. The flux of210Pb varies from 0.9 to 8.2 Bq m−1a−1 with values strongly correlated with the accumulation and a well-defined spatial structure. The same mechanism governs the deposition of artificial and natural tritium but it clearly differs from that of other radionuclides associated with particulate material. The “dry fall-out” accounts for between 60 and 80% of the total fall-out for the artificial radionuclides and around 40% for210Pb. This difference is likely related to a tropospheric fraction for210Pb. Despite its isolated location, the radioactive fall-out of artificial long-lived radionuclides over Antarctica has been ten times greater than for natural radionuclides.

Basic glaciological measurements from the James Ross Island ice cap are presented, including mean annual accumulation and firn temperature. In addition to the well-known radioactivity levels of January 1955 and 1965 in Antarctic snow, two new radioactivity levels corresponding to January 1969 and January 1974 are used in determining the accumulation values. The measurements reveal certain climatic features of this ice cap.

Among the various artificial radioactive markers (mainly from atmospheric nuclear tests), the contamination from the Chernobyl accident has been found at five sampling sites on Northern Hemisphere glaciers. Total beta-activity measurements reveal a very high radio-active level. However, due to the short time of its occurrence, the temporal resolution of this event in the snow layers can be generally quite low and positive results require careful sampling. The size of the signal also depends on the trajectory of the contaminant cloud, the amount of precipitation, and the surface conditions during deposition.

We have measured the /sup 134/Cs, /sup 137/Cs, /sup 137/Cs and /sup 210/Pb vertical distributions in a lake sediment core. A value of 0.042 Bq cm/sup -2/ has been estimated for the atmospheric /sup 137/Cs fallout originating in Chernobyl release on the Alpine area: it represents 15% of the residual /sup 137/Cs activity due to nuclear tests. Mixing process and sedimentation rate have been deduced from /sup 134/Cs and /sup 210/Pb distribution. Distribution of /sup 137/Cs has been simulated for slow and rapid mixing processes and for various mixing thicknesses. Comparison with the experimental distribution indicates values of mixing thickness and sedimentation rate in agreement with the previously measured ones. copyright American Geophysical Union 1988

(1984). Chronology of a core sample in the Col du Dome (Mont Blanc massif) La Houille Blanche: Vol. 70, No. 6-7, pp. 491-498.

Along the 1040 km extending from Cape Prud’homme (lat. 66°41’S., long. 139°55’ E.), near Dumont d’Urville station, to Dome C (lat. 74°39’S., long. 124°10’E.), the variations in annual accumulation can be analysed by a division of the entire data set into three sub-sets depending on the types of measurements and the character of the spatial distribution. Along the first 33 km, from the coast to stake E40, annual measurements show considerable inter-annual variability, 52% of which can be explained by the spatio-temporal homogeneity of the balance distribution. However, we obtain a better result (64%) for the fluctuation homogeneity standardized using the standard deviation. This means that there is a strong space-time dis-tribution structure, characterized by an equal variation of the balance around the mean value specific to each location. This is so in spite of the existence of considerable surface roughness (sastrugi), the influence of which should be reduced by averaging values around each stake. From stake E40 to stake R60, a distance of 170 km, the almost periodic oscillations in the accumulation with a wavelength close to 40 km can be explained by the formation of a gravity-inertia wave, disturbing the geostrophic equilibrium, occurring at the break in slope 200 km from the coast. The very low values of accumulation for stakes D55 and D58S show that the oscillations were almost stationary during the study period (about 25 years). Finally, along the 840 km from stake R60 to Dome C we can observe a decrease in accumulation resulting from the decrease in mean temperature.

The paper presents first results from the upper 54m of a 723.91m ice core drilled on Akademii Nauk ice cap, Severnaya Zemlya, Eurasian Arctic, in 1999– 2001, supplemented by data from shallow ice cores. the glacier’s peculiarity is the infiltration and refreezing of meltwater, which changes the original isotopic and chemical signals. Therefore, stratigraphical observations in these ice cores are more difficult than in those from central Greenland or Antarctica. However, the 1963 maximum of artificial radioactivity from atmospheric nuclear tests is clearly detectable in the deep ice core, and the δ18O profile of a 12.82 m shallow core shows annual variations. Consequently, at least for the upper part of the main core, an almost seasonal time resolution of palaeoclimate record could be expected. the Chernobyl layer is detected by increased 137Cs activity at depths of 11.81–12.51m related to the AD 2000 surface. the resulting mean annual net mass balance is 53±2 g cm–2 a–1. Data from dielectric profiling of the main core show considerable peaks in conductivity; one of them is interpreted as a volcano event. According to the resulting chronology, this part of the core represents approximately the last 100 years.

During 1996-97 a European Project for Ice Goring in Antarctica (EPIGA) pre-site surveying traverse worked in the area between 70° S, 5° E and 75° S, 15° E in Dronning Maud Land. We present data obtained from 10 and 20 m deep firn cores drilled between the coast and 600 km inland (to 3450 m a.s.l.). The cores were analyzed for electrical conductivity measurements and total β activity to obtain accumulation data between known time horizons. In addition, some of the cores were analyzed for oxygen isotopes. Annual accumulation varies from 271 mm we. at Fimbulisen to 24 mm we at 2840 m a.s.l. Accumulation at core sites 2400-3000 m a.s.l. has increased by 16-48% since 1965 compared to the 1955-65 period. However, the core sites above 3250 m a.s.l. and one core location on the ice shelf show a decrease during the same period. Furthermore, no change can be detected at the most inland site for the period 1815-1996. In all the cores the last few years seem to have been some of the warmest in these records.

Simulations of 137Cs distribution in lake sediment cores are presented for slow and rapid mixing processes, for different mixing layers, and for different sampling thicknesses. A parameter characterizing the profile distribution is introduced. Interpretation of the 137Cs profiles of seven alpine lakes is given using those simulations leading to an estimate of the sedimentation rate, the type of mixing and the thickness of the mixing layer. These parameters are compared with those obtained independently from 210Pb profiles in three of the lakes. Agreement is satisfactory. The lakes we studied have similar features. In most cases the lakes have mixing which can be approximated by a rapid diffusion process, sedimentation rate of the order of 0.01 g cm−2 yr−1, and a mixing layer of the order of 2–4 cm.