Back to Search
Start Over
A Tibetan ice core covering the past 1,300 years radiometrically dated with 39 Ar.
- Source :
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2022 Oct 04; Vol. 119 (40), pp. e2200835119. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 26. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Ice cores from alpine glaciers are unique archives of past global and regional climate conditions. However, recovering climate records from these ice cores is often hindered by the lack of a reliable chronology, especially in the age range of 100 to 500 anni (a) for which radiometric dating has not been available so far. We report on radiometric <superscript>39</superscript> Ar dating of an ice core from the Tibetan Plateau and the construction of a chronology covering the past 1,300 a using the obtained <superscript>39</superscript> Ar ages. This is made possible by advances in the analysis of <superscript>39</superscript> Ar using the laser-based detection method atom trap trace analysis, resulting in a twofold increase in the upper age limit of <superscript>39</superscript> Ar dating. By measuring the anthropogenic <superscript>85</superscript> Kr along with <superscript>39</superscript> Ar we quantify and correct modern air contamination, thus removing a major systematic uncertainty of <superscript>39</superscript> Ar dating. Moreover, the <superscript>85</superscript> Kr data for the top part of the ice core provide information on firn processes, including the age difference between the ice and its enclosed gas. This first application of <superscript>39</superscript> Ar and <superscript>85</superscript> Kr to an ice core facilitates further ice cores from nonpolar glaciers to be used for recovering climate records of the Common Era, a period including pronounced anomalies such as the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period.
- Subjects :
- Climate
Climate Change
Tibet
Ice Cover
Radiometric Dating methods
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1091-6490
- Volume :
- 119
- Issue :
- 40
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 36161936
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2200835119