An in Situ Gas-Extraction System to Radiocarbon Date Glacier Ice
Open Access
- 1 January 1967
- journal article
- instruments and-methods
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Glaciology
- Vol. 6 (48) , 939-942
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000020232
Abstract
A new down bore-hole instrument to extract atmospheric gases entrapped in glacier ice was designed, developed and tested in a Greenland ice tunnel. Using this ice and a 7.5 kW. source, about 30 hr. are required to melt the approximately 1 metric ton sample, extract the gases, and to separate and collect with molecular sieves the minimum of 100 cm.3 of CO2 necessary for the 14C measurements made later using special low-level counters. Age results using the down bore-hole CO2 samples agree with results obtained earlier from CO2 samples collected at the same tunnel location using a vacuum-vessel melting technique. A mean value of 5,120±200 yr. b.p. is obtained for the seven samples measured using both collection systems, making this the oldest natural polar glacier ice measured to date.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Radiocarbon dating of iceEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 1966
- Sampling Polar Ice for Radiocarbon DatingNature, 1965