$^{10}$Be evidence for the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal in the EPICA Dome C ice core

An ice core drilled at Dome C, Antarctica, is the oldest ice core so far retrieved 1. On the basis of ice flow modelling and a comparison between the deuterium signal in the ice with climate records from marine sediment cores, the ice at a depth of 3,190 m in the Dome C core is believed to have been...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature
Main Authors: Raisbeck, G.M., Yiou, F., Cattani, O., Jouzel, Jean
Other Authors: Centre de Spectrométrie Nucléaire et de Spectrométrie de Masse (CSNSM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables (GLACCIOS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2006
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Online Access:http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00138066
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05266
Description
Summary:An ice core drilled at Dome C, Antarctica, is the oldest ice core so far retrieved 1. On the basis of ice flow modelling and a comparison between the deuterium signal in the ice with climate records from marine sediment cores, the ice at a depth of 3,190 m in the Dome C core is believed to have been deposited around 800,000 years ago 2, offering a rare opportunity to study climatic and environmental conditions over this time period. However, an independent determination of this age is important because the deuterium profile below a depth of 3,190 m depth does not show the expected correlation with the marine record 2. Here we present evidence for enhanced 10Be deposition in the ice at 3,160-3,170 m, which we interpret as a result of the low dipole field strength during the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal, which occurred about 780,000 years ago. If correct, this provides a crucial tie point between ice cores, marine cores and a radiometric timescale.