The paper presents first results from the upper 54m of a 723.91m ice core drilled on Akademii Nauk ice cap, Severnaya Zemlya, Eurasian Arctic, in 1999– 2001, supplemented by data from shallow ice cores. the glacier’s peculiarity is the infiltration and refreezing of meltwater, which changes the original isotopic and chemical signals. Therefore, stratigraphical observations in these ice cores are more difficult than in those from central Greenland or Antarctica. However, the 1963 maximum of artificial radioactivity from atmospheric nuclear tests is clearly detectable in the deep ice core, and the δ18O profile of a 12.82 m shallow core shows annual variations. Consequently, at least for the upper part of the main core, an almost seasonal time resolution of palaeoclimate record could be expected. the Chernobyl layer is detected by increased 137Cs activity at depths of 11.81–12.51m related to the AD 2000 surface. the resulting mean annual net mass balance is 53±2 g cm–2 a–1. Data from dielectric profiling of the main core show considerable peaks in conductivity; one of them is interpreted as a volcano event. According to the resulting chronology, this part of the core represents approximately the last 100 years.

Between 1999 and 2001, a 724 m long ice core was drilled on Akademii Nauk, the largest glacier on Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic. The drilling site is located near the summit. The core is characterized by high melt-layer content. The melt layers are caused by melting and even by rain during the summer. We present high-resolution data of density, electrical conductivity (dielectrical profiling), stable water isotopes and melt-layer content for the upper 136m (120 m w.e.) of the ice core. The dating by isotopic cycles and electrical conductivity peak identification suggests that this core section covers approximately the past 275 years. Singularities of volcanogenic and anthropogenic origin provide well-defined additional time markers. Long-term temperatures inferred from 12 year running mean averages of δ18O reach their lowest level in the entire record around 1790. Thereafter the δ18O values indicate a continuously increasing mean temperature on the Akademii Nauk ice cap until 1935, interrupted only by minor cooling episodes. The 20th century is found to be the warmest period in this record.