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14C Measurements of Ice Samples from the Juvfonne Ice Tunnel, Jotunheimen, Southern Norway—Validation of a 14C Dating Technique for Glacier Ice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

A Zapf ,
A Nesje ,
S Szidat ,
L Wacker  and
M Schwikowski
A Zapf
Affiliation:
Paul Scherrer Institut, Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Villigen, Switzerland Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
A Nesje
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen and the Uni Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
S Szidat
Affiliation:
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
L Wacker
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
M Schwikowski*
Affiliation:
Paul Scherrer Institut, Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Villigen, Switzerland Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
*
6Corresponding author. Email: margit.schwikowski@psi.ch.
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Abstract

Establishing precise age-depth relationships of high-alpine ice cores is essential in order to deduce conclusive paleoclimatic information from these archives. Radiocarbon dating of carbonaceous aerosol particles incorporated in such glaciers is a promising tool to gain absolute ages, especially from the deepest parts where conventional methods are commonly inapplicable. In this study, we present a new validation for a published 14C dating method for ice cores. Previously 14C-dated horizons of organic material from the Juvfonne ice patch in central southern Norway (61.676°N, 8.354°E) were used as reference dates for adjacent ice layers, which were 14C dated based on their particulate organic carbon (POC) fraction. Multiple measurements were carried out on 3 sampling locations within the ice patch featuring modern to multimillennial ice. The ages obtained from the analyzed samples were in agreement with the given age estimates. In addition to previous validation work, this independent verification gives further confidence that the investigated method provides the actual age of the ice.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 571 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

†

Deceased.

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