Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons

Cosmic rays entering the Earth's atmosphere produce showers of secondary particles such as protons, neutrons, and muons. The interaction of these particles with oxygen-16 ( 16 O ) in minerals such as ice and quartz can produce carbon-14 ( 14 C ). In glacial ice, 14 C is also incorporated throug...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: M. N. Dyonisius, V. V. Petrenko, A. M. Smith, B. Hmiel, P. D. Neff, B. Yang, Q. Hua, J. Schmitt, S. A. Shackleton, C. Buizert, P. F. Place, J. A. Menking, R. Beaudette, C. Harth, M. Kalk, H. A. Roop, B. Bereiter, C. Armanetti, I. Vimont, S. Englund Michel, E. J. Brook, J. P. Severinghaus, R. F. Weiss, J. R. McConnell
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023
https://doaj.org/article/07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094
id ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094
record_format openpolar
spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094 2023-05-15T13:31:31+02:00 Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons M. N. Dyonisius V. V. Petrenko A. M. Smith B. Hmiel P. D. Neff B. Yang Q. Hua J. Schmitt S. A. Shackleton C. Buizert P. F. Place J. A. Menking R. Beaudette C. Harth M. Kalk H. A. Roop B. Bereiter C. Armanetti I. Vimont S. Englund Michel E. J. Brook J. P. Severinghaus R. F. Weiss J. R. McConnell 2023-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023 https://doaj.org/article/07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/843/2023/tc-17-843-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-17-843-2023 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094 The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 843-863 (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023 2023-02-26T01:41:10Z Cosmic rays entering the Earth's atmosphere produce showers of secondary particles such as protons, neutrons, and muons. The interaction of these particles with oxygen-16 ( 16 O ) in minerals such as ice and quartz can produce carbon-14 ( 14 C ). In glacial ice, 14 C is also incorporated through trapping of 14 C -containing atmospheric gases ( 14 CO 2 , 14 CO , and 14 CH 4 ). Understanding the production rates of in situ cosmogenic 14 C is important to deconvolve the in situ cosmogenic and atmospheric 14 C signals in ice, both of which contain valuable paleoenvironmental information. Unfortunately, the in situ 14 C production rates by muons (which are the dominant production mechanism at depths of >6 m solid ice equivalent) are uncertain. In this study, we use measurements of in situ 14 C in ancient ice ( >50 ka) from the Taylor Glacier, an ablation site in Antarctica, in combination with a 2D ice flow model to better constrain the compound-specific rates of 14 C production by muons and the partitioning of in situ 14 C between CO 2 , CO, and CH 4 . Our measurements show that 33.7 % ( ±11.4 % 95 % confidence interval) of the produced cosmogenic 14 C forms 14 CO and 66.1 % ( ±11.5 % 95 % confidence interval) of the produced cosmogenic 14 C forms 14 CO 2 . 14 CH 4 represents a very small fraction ( <0.3 % ) of the total. Assuming that the majority of in situ muogenic 14 C in ice forms 14 CO 2 , 14 CO , and 14 CH 4 , we also calculated muogenic 14 C production rates that are lower by factors of 5.7 (3.6–13.9; 95 % confidence interval) and 3.7 (2.0–11.9; 95 % confidence interval) for negative muon capture and fast muon interactions, respectively, when compared to values determined in quartz from laboratory studies (Heisinger et al., 2002a, b) and in a natural setting (Lupker et al., 2015). This apparent discrepancy in muogenic 14 C production rates in ice and quartz currently lacks a good explanation and requires further investigation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica ice core Taylor Glacier The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Taylor Glacier ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) The Cryosphere 17 2 843 863
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Geology
QE1-996.5
spellingShingle Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Geology
QE1-996.5
M. N. Dyonisius
V. V. Petrenko
A. M. Smith
B. Hmiel
P. D. Neff
B. Yang
Q. Hua
J. Schmitt
S. A. Shackleton
C. Buizert
P. F. Place
J. A. Menking
R. Beaudette
C. Harth
M. Kalk
H. A. Roop
B. Bereiter
C. Armanetti
I. Vimont
S. Englund Michel
E. J. Brook
J. P. Severinghaus
R. F. Weiss
J. R. McConnell
Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons
topic_facet Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Geology
QE1-996.5
description Cosmic rays entering the Earth's atmosphere produce showers of secondary particles such as protons, neutrons, and muons. The interaction of these particles with oxygen-16 ( 16 O ) in minerals such as ice and quartz can produce carbon-14 ( 14 C ). In glacial ice, 14 C is also incorporated through trapping of 14 C -containing atmospheric gases ( 14 CO 2 , 14 CO , and 14 CH 4 ). Understanding the production rates of in situ cosmogenic 14 C is important to deconvolve the in situ cosmogenic and atmospheric 14 C signals in ice, both of which contain valuable paleoenvironmental information. Unfortunately, the in situ 14 C production rates by muons (which are the dominant production mechanism at depths of >6 m solid ice equivalent) are uncertain. In this study, we use measurements of in situ 14 C in ancient ice ( >50 ka) from the Taylor Glacier, an ablation site in Antarctica, in combination with a 2D ice flow model to better constrain the compound-specific rates of 14 C production by muons and the partitioning of in situ 14 C between CO 2 , CO, and CH 4 . Our measurements show that 33.7 % ( ±11.4 % 95 % confidence interval) of the produced cosmogenic 14 C forms 14 CO and 66.1 % ( ±11.5 % 95 % confidence interval) of the produced cosmogenic 14 C forms 14 CO 2 . 14 CH 4 represents a very small fraction ( <0.3 % ) of the total. Assuming that the majority of in situ muogenic 14 C in ice forms 14 CO 2 , 14 CO , and 14 CH 4 , we also calculated muogenic 14 C production rates that are lower by factors of 5.7 (3.6–13.9; 95 % confidence interval) and 3.7 (2.0–11.9; 95 % confidence interval) for negative muon capture and fast muon interactions, respectively, when compared to values determined in quartz from laboratory studies (Heisinger et al., 2002a, b) and in a natural setting (Lupker et al., 2015). This apparent discrepancy in muogenic 14 C production rates in ice and quartz currently lacks a good explanation and requires further investigation.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author M. N. Dyonisius
V. V. Petrenko
A. M. Smith
B. Hmiel
P. D. Neff
B. Yang
Q. Hua
J. Schmitt
S. A. Shackleton
C. Buizert
P. F. Place
J. A. Menking
R. Beaudette
C. Harth
M. Kalk
H. A. Roop
B. Bereiter
C. Armanetti
I. Vimont
S. Englund Michel
E. J. Brook
J. P. Severinghaus
R. F. Weiss
J. R. McConnell
author_facet M. N. Dyonisius
V. V. Petrenko
A. M. Smith
B. Hmiel
P. D. Neff
B. Yang
Q. Hua
J. Schmitt
S. A. Shackleton
C. Buizert
P. F. Place
J. A. Menking
R. Beaudette
C. Harth
M. Kalk
H. A. Roop
B. Bereiter
C. Armanetti
I. Vimont
S. Englund Michel
E. J. Brook
J. P. Severinghaus
R. F. Weiss
J. R. McConnell
author_sort M. N. Dyonisius
title Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons
title_short Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons
title_full Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons
title_fullStr Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons
title_full_unstemmed Using ice core measurements from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 C production rates by muons
title_sort using ice core measurements from taylor glacier, antarctica, to calibrate in situ cosmogenic 14 c production rates by muons
publisher Copernicus Publications
publishDate 2023
url https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023
https://doaj.org/article/07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094
long_lat ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733)
geographic Taylor Glacier
geographic_facet Taylor Glacier
genre Antarc*
Antarctica
ice core
Taylor Glacier
The Cryosphere
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctica
ice core
Taylor Glacier
The Cryosphere
op_source The Cryosphere, Vol 17, Pp 843-863 (2023)
op_relation https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/17/843/2023/tc-17-843-2023.pdf
https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416
https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424
doi:10.5194/tc-17-843-2023
1994-0416
1994-0424
https://doaj.org/article/07c7e30c42454b0aa85d33a5ab319094
op_doi https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023
container_title The Cryosphere
container_volume 17
container_issue 2
container_start_page 843
op_container_end_page 863
_version_ 1766018523873673216