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In-Situ Radiocarbon Production by Neutrons and Muons in an Antarctic Blue Ice Field at Scharffenbergbotnen: A Status Report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

K van der Borg ,
W J M van der Kemp ,
C Alderliesten ,
A F M de Jong ,
R A N Lamers ,
J Oerlemans ,
M Thomassen  and
R S W van de Wal
K van der Borg*
Affiliation:
Institute of Subatomic Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
W J M van der Kemp
Affiliation:
Institute of Subatomic Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
C Alderliesten
Affiliation:
Institute of Subatomic Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
A F M de Jong
Affiliation:
Institute of Subatomic Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
R A N Lamers
Affiliation:
Institute of Subatomic Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
J Oerlemans
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80005, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
M Thomassen
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80005, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
R S W van de Wal
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80005, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
*
Corresponding author. Email: k.vanderborg@phys.uu.nl.
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Abstract

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In the radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (14C AMS) analysis of gases obtained in a dry extraction from a 52–m Antarctic ice core, we observed 14CO2 and 14CO concentrations decreasing with depth. The concentrations are explained in terms of in-situ production by neutrons and captured muons in ablating ice. The ratio of the 14CO2 concentration to that of 14CO has been found to be constant at 1.9 ± 0.3. The ablation rates obtained of 42 ± 18 cm.yr−1 and 40 ± 13 cm.yr−1 for the neutron and muon components, respectively, are about three times higher than observed from stake readings. The discrepancy may point to an incomplete extraction of the dry extraction method. Using the constant ratio in 14CO2 and 14CO concentrations we correct for the in-situ component in the trapped 14CO2 and deduce an age of 10,300 ± 900 BP for the ice core.

Type
I. Our ‘Dry’ Environment: Above Sea Level
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 43 , Issue 2B: Proceedings of the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 3), Conference Editors: Israel Carmi, Elisabetta Boaretto , 2001 , pp. 751 - 757
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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