Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica
We present the first successful ⁸¹Kr-Kr radiometric dating of ancient polar ice. Krypton was extracted from the air bubbles in four ~350 kg polar ice samples from Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and dated using Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA). The ⁸¹Kr radiometric ages agree w...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English unknown |
Published: |
National Academy of Sciences
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/9c67ws393 |
id |
ftoregonstate:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:9c67ws393 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftoregonstate:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:9c67ws393 2024-09-09T19:06:08+00:00 Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica Buizert, Christo Baggenstos, Daniel Jiang, Wei Purtschert, Roland Petrenko, Vasilii V. Lu, Zheng-Tian Mueller, Peter Lee, James Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. Brook, Edward J. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/9c67ws393 English [eng] eng unknown National Academy of Sciences https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/9c67ws393 Copyright Not Evaluated Article ftoregonstate 2024-07-22T18:06:04Z We present the first successful ⁸¹Kr-Kr radiometric dating of ancient polar ice. Krypton was extracted from the air bubbles in four ~350 kg polar ice samples from Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and dated using Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA). The ⁸¹Kr radiometric ages agree with independent age estimates obtained from stratigraphic dating techniques with a mean absolute age offset of 6 ± 2.5 ka. Our experimental methods and sampling strategy are validated by 1) ⁸⁵Kr and ³⁹Ar analyses that show the samples to be free of modern air contamination, and 2) air content measurements that show the ice did not experience gas loss. We estimate the error in the ⁸¹Kr ages due to past geomagnetic variability to be below 3 ka. We show that ice from the previous interglacial period (MIS 5e, 130-115 ka before present) can be found in abundance near the surface of Taylor Glacier. Our study paves the way for reliable radiometric dating of ancient ice in blue ice areas and margin sites where large samples are available, greatly enhancing their scientific value as archives of old ice and meteorites. At present, ATTA ⁸¹Kr analysis requires a 40-80 kg ice sample; as sample requirements continue to decrease ⁸¹Kr dating of ice cores is a future possibility. Keywords: paleoclimatology, glaciology, geochronology Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier ScholarsArchive@OSU (Oregon State University) Atta ENVELOPE(90.985,90.985,75.603,75.603) McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ScholarsArchive@OSU (Oregon State University) |
op_collection_id |
ftoregonstate |
language |
English unknown |
description |
We present the first successful ⁸¹Kr-Kr radiometric dating of ancient polar ice. Krypton was extracted from the air bubbles in four ~350 kg polar ice samples from Taylor Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and dated using Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA). The ⁸¹Kr radiometric ages agree with independent age estimates obtained from stratigraphic dating techniques with a mean absolute age offset of 6 ± 2.5 ka. Our experimental methods and sampling strategy are validated by 1) ⁸⁵Kr and ³⁹Ar analyses that show the samples to be free of modern air contamination, and 2) air content measurements that show the ice did not experience gas loss. We estimate the error in the ⁸¹Kr ages due to past geomagnetic variability to be below 3 ka. We show that ice from the previous interglacial period (MIS 5e, 130-115 ka before present) can be found in abundance near the surface of Taylor Glacier. Our study paves the way for reliable radiometric dating of ancient ice in blue ice areas and margin sites where large samples are available, greatly enhancing their scientific value as archives of old ice and meteorites. At present, ATTA ⁸¹Kr analysis requires a 40-80 kg ice sample; as sample requirements continue to decrease ⁸¹Kr dating of ice cores is a future possibility. Keywords: paleoclimatology, glaciology, geochronology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Buizert, Christo Baggenstos, Daniel Jiang, Wei Purtschert, Roland Petrenko, Vasilii V. Lu, Zheng-Tian Mueller, Peter Lee, James Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. Brook, Edward J. |
spellingShingle |
Buizert, Christo Baggenstos, Daniel Jiang, Wei Purtschert, Roland Petrenko, Vasilii V. Lu, Zheng-Tian Mueller, Peter Lee, James Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. Brook, Edward J. Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica |
author_facet |
Buizert, Christo Baggenstos, Daniel Jiang, Wei Purtschert, Roland Petrenko, Vasilii V. Lu, Zheng-Tian Mueller, Peter Lee, James Severinghaus, Jeffrey P. Brook, Edward J. |
author_sort |
Buizert, Christo |
title |
Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica |
title_short |
Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica |
title_full |
Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Radiometric ⁸¹Kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica |
title_sort |
radiometric ⁸¹kr dating identifies 120,000-year-old ice at taylor glacier, antarctica |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
url |
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/9c67ws393 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(90.985,90.985,75.603,75.603) ENVELOPE(162.167,162.167,-77.733,-77.733) |
geographic |
Atta McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Atta McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Glacier |
op_relation |
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/9c67ws393 |
op_rights |
Copyright Not Evaluated |
_version_ |
1809820152093474816 |