A Correction for In-Situ ¹⁴C in Antarctic Ice with ¹⁴CO

We use a dry extraction method to obtain trapped CO₂ of shallow ice cores from a blue ice area of East Antarctica. In-situ-produced ¹⁴C extracted in ¹⁴CO₂ and ¹⁴CO concentrations show a mean ratio of 3.4 ± 0.4. Correction for in-situ ¹⁴CO₂ resulted in ice ages within 7-13 ka. The accumulation and ablation rates determined from the in-situ production of 7-20 cm yr^-1 and 10-13 cm yr^-1, respectively, agree with field measurements, and thus indicate close to total efficiency of extraction.

[Radiocarbon Volume 37, Number 2, 1995]