Articles | Volume 10, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-3091-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-3091-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Review article
| 
21 Dec 2016
Review article |
| 21 Dec 2016
Radiocarbon dating of glacier ice: overview, optimisation, validation and potential
Chiara Uglietti
Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Alexander Zapf
Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
deceased
Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Michael Sigl
Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Sönke Szidat
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Gary Salazar
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Margit Schwikowski
Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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- A Tibetan ice core covering the past 1,300 years radiometrically dated with 39 Ar F. Ritterbusch et al. 10.1073/pnas.2200835119
- Age ranges of the Tibetan ice cores with emphasis on the Chongce ice cores, western Kunlun Mountains S. Hou et al. 10.5194/tc-12-2341-2018
- A quantitative method of resolving annual precipitation for the past millennia from Tibetan ice cores W. Zhang et al. 10.5194/tc-16-1997-2022
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- Mt. Everest’s highest glacier is a sentinel for accelerating ice loss M. Potocki et al. 10.1038/s41612-022-00230-0
- Preservation of chemical and isotopic signatures within the Weißseespitze millennial old ice cap (Eastern Alps), despite the ongoing ice loss A. Spagnesi et al. 10.3389/feart.2023.1322411
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- Unravelling the high-altitude Nansen blue ice field meteorite trap (East Antarctica) and implications for regional palaeo-conditions H. Zekollari et al. 10.1016/j.gca.2018.12.035
- Prospects for reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions from organic compounds in polar snow and ice C. Giorio et al. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.01.007
- Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland P. Bohleber et al. 10.5194/tc-12-401-2018
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- Ice-core based assessment of nitrogen deposition in the central Tibetan Plateau over the last millennium X. Zou et al. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152692
- Decadal Temperature Variations Over the Northwestern Tibetan Plateau Deduced From a 489‐Year Ice Core Stable Isotopic Record W. Zhang et al. 10.1029/2021JD036087
- Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter D. Cappelletti et al. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317
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3 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Age of the Mt. Ortles ice cores, the Tyrolean Iceman and glaciation of the highest summit of South Tyrol since the Northern Hemisphere Climatic Optimum P. Gabrielli et al. 10.5194/tc-10-2779-2016
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Discussed (final revised paper)
Latest update: 25 Dec 2024
Short summary
A meaningful interpretation of the climatic history contained in ice cores requires a precise chronology. For dating the older and deeper part of the glaciers, radiocarbon analysis can be used when organic matter such as plant or insect fragments are found in the ice. Since this happens rarely, a complementary dating tool, based on radiocarbon dating of the insoluble fraction of carbonaceous aerosols entrapped in the ice, allows for ice dating between 200 and more than 10 000 years.
A meaningful interpretation of the climatic history contained in ice cores requires a precise...
