In situ produced 14C by cosmic ray muons in ablating Antarctic ice

W. J. M. van der Kemp; C. Alderliesten; K. Vander Borg; A. F. M. de Jong; R. A. N. Lamers; J. Oerlemans; M. Thomassen; R. S. W. van de Wal

doi:10.3402/tellusb.v54i2.16658

In situ produced 14C by cosmic ray muons in ablating Antarctic ice

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 54 (2002): Issue 2

By: W. J. M. van der Kemp, C. Alderliesten, K. Vander Borg, A. F. M. de Jong, R. A. N. Lamers, J. Oerlemans, M. Thomassen and R. S. W. van de Wal

Open Access

|Jan 2002

Abstract

Samples of a core (52 m) of ablating Antarctic ice were analysed for ¹⁴CO and ¹⁴CO₂ by accelerator mass spectrometry. The data were compared with a ¹⁴C in situ production model that includes muon capture in addition to oxygen spallation by neutrons. The analysis reveals significant in situ ¹⁴C at depths below 10 m, which we attribute to ¹⁴C production by cosmic ray muons. The age of the ice was determined as 9.3±0.4 ¹⁴C ka BP.

References

Alderliesten , C. , Van der Borg , K. and De Jong , A. F. M . 1998 . Contamination and fractionation effects in AMS-measured “C/“C and “C/“C ratios of small samples. Radiocarbon 40 , 215 – 221 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bintanja , R . 1999 . On the glaciological, meteorological, and climatological significance of Arctic blue ice areas. Rev. Geophys . 37 , 337 – 359 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Heisinger , B. P . 1998 . Myonen-induzierte Produktion von Radionukliden . PhD Thesis, Munchen Technical Uni-versity , Germany , 152 pp .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Heisinger , B. and Nolte , E . 2000 . Cosmogenic in situ production of radionuclides: exposure ages and ero-sion rates. Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. B 172 , 790 – 795 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jull , A. J. T. , Lifton , N. , Phillips , W. M. and Quade , J . 1994 . Studies of the production rate of cosmic-ray produced “C in rock surfaces. Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. B 92 , 308 – 310 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lal , D. , Nishiizumi , K. and Arnold , J. R. 1987. In situ cosmogenic 3H, “C and “Be for determining the net accumulation and ablation rates of ice sheets. J. Geophys. Res. 92 , 4947 - 4952 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lal , D. , Jull , A. J. T. , Donahue , D. J. , Burtner , D. and Nishiizumi , K. 1990 . Polar ice ablation rates measured using in situ cosmogenic “C. Nature 346 , 350 - 352 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Levchenko , V. A. , Etheridge , D. M. , Francey , R. J. , Trud-inger , C. , Tuniz , C. , Lawson , E. M. , Smith , A. M. , Jacobsen , G. E. , Hua , Q. Hotchkis , M. A. C. , Fink , D. Morgan , V. and Head , J. 1997. Measurements of the “CO2 bomb pulse in firn an ice at Law Dome, Antarctica. Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. B 123 , 290 - 295 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Nebeling , B. , Roessler , K. and Schmitz , G . 1986 . Radi-ation stability of organic matter in liquid and frozen H20, NH3, and water—ammonia mixtures. Adv. Space Res . 6 , 207 – 210 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Stauffer , B. , Hofer , H. , Oeschger , H. , Schwander , J. and Siegenthaler , U . 1984 . Atmospheric CO2 concentration during the last glaciation. Ann. Glaciol . 5 , 160 – 164 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Van der Borg , K. , Alderliesten , C. , De Jong , A. F. M. , Van den Brink , A. , De Haas , A. P. , Kersemaekers , H. J. H. and Raaymakers , J. E. M. J . 1997 . Precision and mass fractionation in “C analysis with AMS. Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. B 123 , 97 – 101 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Van der Kemp , W. J. M. , Alderliesten , C. , Van der Borg , K. , Holmlund , P ., De ong , A. F. M. , Karlilf , L. , Lamers , R. A. N. , Oerlemans , J. , Thomassen , M. and Van de Wal , R. S. W. 2000 . Very little in situ produced radiocarbon retained in accumulating Antarctic ice. Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. B172 , 632 - 636 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Van Roijen , J. J . 1996 . Determination of ages and specific mass balances from “C measurements on Antarctic surface ice. PhD Thesis, Utrecht University , The Netherlands , 119 pp .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Van Roijen , J. J. , Bintanja , R. , Van der Borg , K. , Van den Broeke , M. R. , De Jong , A. F. M. and Oerlemans , J . 1994 . Dry extraction of “CO2 and “CO from Antarc-tic ice. Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. B 92 , 331 - 334 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Von Egidy , T. and Hartmann , F. J. 1982 . Average muonic Coulomb capture probalities for 65 elements. Phys. Rev. A 26 , 2355 – 2360 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wilson , A. T . 1995 . Application of AMS “C dating to ice core research. Radiocarbon 37 , 637 – 641 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wilson , A. T. and Donahue , D. J . 1992 . AMS Radio-carbon dating of ice: validity of the technique and the problem of cosmogenic in-situ production in polar ice cores. Radiocarbon 34 , 431 – 435 .
Search in Google Scholar Back to article

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v54i2.16658 | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

Journal RSS Feed

Language: English

Page range: 186 - 192

Submitted on: Dec 28, 2000

Accepted on: Oct 22, 2001

Published on: Jan 1, 2002

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2002 W. J. M. van der Kemp, C. Alderliesten, K. Vander Borg, A. F. M. de Jong, R. A. N. Lamers, J. Oerlemans, M. Thomassen, R. S. W. van de Wal, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 54 (2002): Issue 2