accurate to about 1%. This dating was confirmed by comparison with dendrochronology using beryllium-10, and with
volcanic horizons dated by carbon-14. The last millennium
can also be dated to within a few years through identification
of known volcanic eruptions. For the rest of the Holocene,
synchronization with the dendrochronological scale using
beryllium-10 gives us dating accuracy to within a few
decades.
For the last glacial period, the accuracy of counted time
scales decreases to about 5% up to 60 ka. This dating provides ages for the Dansgaard-Oeschger events which are
confirmed by uranium/thorium dating of speleothems in
Europe and Asia. It is also compatible with some volcanic
horizons dated by carbon-14 and argon/argon. The main
methods of dating for the last 60 ka therefore now seem to
be in agreement to within a few hundred years rather than a
few thousand years as was the case until recently.
Further back than the last glacial period, counting of
layers is no longer possible, and the chronologies are mainly
based on speleothems, volcanic horizons and orbital alignment. Orbital tuning has a precision of about 5 ka. Local
insolation indicators (O 2 /N 2 ratio, air concentrations) could
lead to an improved accuracy of 1–2 ka, but this must be
confirmed by independent methods.
References
Arnaud, L., Barnola, J.-M., & Duval, P. (2000). Physical modeling of
the densification of snow/firn and ice in the upper part of polar ice
sheets. In T. Hondoh (Ed.), Physics of Ice CoreRecords (pp. 285–
305). Japan.: Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo.
Beer, J., Vonmoos, M., & Muscheler, R. (2006). Solar variability over
the past several millennia. Space Science Reviews, 125(1), 67–79.
Bender, M. L. (2002). Orbital tuning chronology for the Vostok climate
record supported by trapped gas composition. Science Letters, 204,
275–289.
Burns, S. J., Fleitmann, D., Matter, A., Kramers, J., & Al-Subbary, A.
(2003). Indian Ocean climate and absolute chronology over
dansgaard/oeschger events 9–13. Science, 301, 1365–1367.
Dreyfus, G. B., Parrenin, F., Lemieux-Dudon, B., Durand, G.,
Masson-Delmotte, V., Jouzel, J., et al. (2007). Anomalous flow
below 2700 m in the EPICA Dome C ice core detected using d18O
of atmospheric oxygen measurements. Climate of the Past Discussions, 3(2), 341–353. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-3-341-2007.
Guillou, H., Singer, B. S., Laj, C., Kissel, C., Scaillet, S., & Jicha, B. R.
(2004). On the age of the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion. Earth
and Planetary Science Letters, 227, 331–343.
Kawamura, K., Parrenin, F., Uemura, R., Vimeux, F., Severinghaus,
J. P., Matsumoto, K., et al. (2007). Northern hemisphere forcing of
climatic cycles over the past 360,000 years implied by absolute
dating of antarctic ice cores. Nature, 448, 912–917.
Landais, A., Barnola, J., Kawamura, K., Caillon, N., Delmotte, M.,
Ommen, T. V., et al. (2006). Firn-Air d
15
N in modern polar sites
and glacial-interglacial ice: A model-data mismatch during glacial
periods in antarctica? Quaternary Science Reviews, 25(1–2), 49–62.
Laskar, J., Robutel, P., Joutel, F., Gastineau, M., Correia, A. C. M., &
Levrard, B. (2004). A Long-term numerical solution for the
insolation quantities of the earth. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 428,
261–285.
Lemieux-Dudon, B., Blayo, Petit, J. R. E., Waelbroeck, C., Svensson,
A., et al. (2010). Consistent dating for Antarctica and Greenland ice
cores’, Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(1–2), 8–20.
Masson-Delmotte, V., Hou, S., Ekaykin, A., Jouzel, J., Aristarain, A.,
Bernardo, R. T., et al. (2008). A review of Antarctic surface snow
isotopic composition: Observations, atmospheric circulation, and
isotopic modeling. Journal of Climate, 21(13), 3359–3387.
Narcisi, B., Petit, J.-R. & Tiepolo, M. (2006). A volcanic marker
(92 ka) for dating deep east Antarctic ice cores. Quaternary Science
Reviews, 25, 2682–2687.
Parrenin, F., Barker, S., Blunier, T., Chappellaz, J., Jouzel, J., Landais,
A., et al. (2012). On the gas-ice depth difference (Ddepth) along the
EPICA Dome C ice core. Climate of the Past, 8(4), 1239–1255
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-1239-2012.
Parrenin, F., Barnola, J.-M., Beer, J., Blunier, T., Castellano, E.,
Chappellaz, J., et al. (2007a). The EDC3 chronology for the EPICA
dome C ice core. Climate of the Past, 3, 485–497.
Parrenin, F., Bazin, L., Capron, E., Landais, A., Lemieux-Dudon, B., &
Masson-Delmotte, V. (2015). IceChrono1: A probabilistic model to
compute a common and optimal chronology for several ice cores.
Geoscientific Model Development, 8(5), 1473–1492. https://doi.org/
10.5194/gmd-8-1473-2015.
Parrenin, F., Dreyfus, G., Durand, G., Fujita, S., Gagliardini, O., Gillet,
F., et al. (2007b). Ice flow modelling at EPICA dome C and dome
Fuji, East Antarctica. Climate of the Past, 3, 243–259.
Parrenin, F., Rémy, F., Ritz, C., Siegert, M., & Jouzel, J. (2004). New
modelling of the Vostok ice flow line and implication for the
glaciological chronology of the Vostok ice core. Journal Geophysical Research, 109, D20102.
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Cattani, O., & Jouzel, J. (2006).
10
Be
Evidence for the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal in the
EPICA dome C ice core. Nature, 444(7115), 82–84.
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Jouzel, J., & Stocker, T. F. (2007). Direct
north-south synchronization of abrupt climate change record in ice
cores using beryllium 10. Climate of the Past, 3(3), 541–547.
Rasmussen, S. O., Andersen, K. K., Svensson, A. M., Steffensen, J. P.,
Vinther, B. M., Clausen, H. B., et al. (2006). A new greenland ice
core chronology for the last glacial termination. Journal Geophysical Research, 111, D06102.
Raynaud, D., Lipenkov, V., Lemieux-Dudon, B., Duval, P., Loutre,
M.-F. & Lhomme, N. (2007). The local insolation signature of air
content in Antarctic ice. A newstep toward an absolute dating of
ice records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 261(3–4), 337–
349.
Ritz, C., Rommelaere, V., & Dumas, C. (2001). Modeling the evolution
of antarctic ice sheet over the last 420,000 years: Implications for
altitude changes in the Vostok Region. Journal Geophysical
Research, 106(D23), 31943–31964.
Ruth, U., Barnola, J.-M., Beer, J., Bigler, M., Blunier, T., et al.
‘EDML1: A chronology for the EDML ice core, Antarctica, over
the last 150 000 Years. Climate of the Past, 3, 475–484 (2007).
Salamatin, A. N., Lipenkov, V. Y., Barnola, J. M., Hori, A., Duval, P.,
& Hondoh, T. (2009). Snow-Firn Densification in Polar Ice Sheets.
In T. Hondoh (Ed.), Physics of Ice Core Records-2. Sapporo:
Hokkaido University Press.
Schwander, J., Sowers, T., Barnola, J.-M., Blunier, T., Fuchs, A., &
Malaizé, B. (1997). Age scale of the air in the summit ice:
Implication for the glacial-interglacial temperature change. Journal
Geophysical Research, 102, 19483–19493.
Severi, M., Castellano, E., Morganti, A., Udisti, R., Ruth, U., Fischer,
H., et al. (2007). Synchronisation of the EDML1 and EDC3
timescales for the Last 52 Kyr by volcanic signature matching.
Climate of the Past, 3, 367–374.
134
F. Parrenin
volcanic horizons dated by carbon-14. The last millennium
can also be dated to within a few years through identification
of known volcanic eruptions. For the rest of the Holocene,
synchronization with the dendrochronological scale using
beryllium-10 gives us dating accuracy to within a few
decades.
For the last glacial period, the accuracy of counted time
scales decreases to about 5% up to 60 ka. This dating provides ages for the Dansgaard-Oeschger events which are
confirmed by uranium/thorium dating of speleothems in
Europe and Asia. It is also compatible with some volcanic
horizons dated by carbon-14 and argon/argon. The main
methods of dating for the last 60 ka therefore now seem to
be in agreement to within a few hundred years rather than a
few thousand years as was the case until recently.
Further back than the last glacial period, counting of
layers is no longer possible, and the chronologies are mainly
based on speleothems, volcanic horizons and orbital alignment. Orbital tuning has a precision of about 5 ka. Local
insolation indicators (O 2 /N 2 ratio, air concentrations) could
lead to an improved accuracy of 1–2 ka, but this must be
confirmed by independent methods.
References
Arnaud, L., Barnola, J.-M., & Duval, P. (2000). Physical modeling of
the densification of snow/firn and ice in the upper part of polar ice
sheets. In T. Hondoh (Ed.), Physics of Ice CoreRecords (pp. 285–
305). Japan.: Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo.
Beer, J., Vonmoos, M., & Muscheler, R. (2006). Solar variability over
the past several millennia. Space Science Reviews, 125(1), 67–79.
Bender, M. L. (2002). Orbital tuning chronology for the Vostok climate
record supported by trapped gas composition. Science Letters, 204,
275–289.
Burns, S. J., Fleitmann, D., Matter, A., Kramers, J., & Al-Subbary, A.
(2003). Indian Ocean climate and absolute chronology over
dansgaard/oeschger events 9–13. Science, 301, 1365–1367.
Dreyfus, G. B., Parrenin, F., Lemieux-Dudon, B., Durand, G.,
Masson-Delmotte, V., Jouzel, J., et al. (2007). Anomalous flow
below 2700 m in the EPICA Dome C ice core detected using d18O
of atmospheric oxygen measurements. Climate of the Past Discussions, 3(2), 341–353. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-3-341-2007.
Guillou, H., Singer, B. S., Laj, C., Kissel, C., Scaillet, S., & Jicha, B. R.
(2004). On the age of the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion. Earth
and Planetary Science Letters, 227, 331–343.
Kawamura, K., Parrenin, F., Uemura, R., Vimeux, F., Severinghaus,
J. P., Matsumoto, K., et al. (2007). Northern hemisphere forcing of
climatic cycles over the past 360,000 years implied by absolute
dating of antarctic ice cores. Nature, 448, 912–917.
Landais, A., Barnola, J., Kawamura, K., Caillon, N., Delmotte, M.,
Ommen, T. V., et al. (2006). Firn-Air d
15
N in modern polar sites
and glacial-interglacial ice: A model-data mismatch during glacial
periods in antarctica? Quaternary Science Reviews, 25(1–2), 49–62.
Laskar, J., Robutel, P., Joutel, F., Gastineau, M., Correia, A. C. M., &
Levrard, B. (2004). A Long-term numerical solution for the
insolation quantities of the earth. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 428,
261–285.
Lemieux-Dudon, B., Blayo, Petit, J. R. E., Waelbroeck, C., Svensson,
A., et al. (2010). Consistent dating for Antarctica and Greenland ice
cores’, Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(1–2), 8–20.
Masson-Delmotte, V., Hou, S., Ekaykin, A., Jouzel, J., Aristarain, A.,
Bernardo, R. T., et al. (2008). A review of Antarctic surface snow
isotopic composition: Observations, atmospheric circulation, and
isotopic modeling. Journal of Climate, 21(13), 3359–3387.
Narcisi, B., Petit, J.-R. & Tiepolo, M. (2006). A volcanic marker
(92 ka) for dating deep east Antarctic ice cores. Quaternary Science
Reviews, 25, 2682–2687.
Parrenin, F., Barker, S., Blunier, T., Chappellaz, J., Jouzel, J., Landais,
A., et al. (2012). On the gas-ice depth difference (Ddepth) along the
EPICA Dome C ice core. Climate of the Past, 8(4), 1239–1255
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-1239-2012.
Parrenin, F., Barnola, J.-M., Beer, J., Blunier, T., Castellano, E.,
Chappellaz, J., et al. (2007a). The EDC3 chronology for the EPICA
dome C ice core. Climate of the Past, 3, 485–497.
Parrenin, F., Bazin, L., Capron, E., Landais, A., Lemieux-Dudon, B., &
Masson-Delmotte, V. (2015). IceChrono1: A probabilistic model to
compute a common and optimal chronology for several ice cores.
Geoscientific Model Development, 8(5), 1473–1492. https://doi.org/
10.5194/gmd-8-1473-2015.
Parrenin, F., Dreyfus, G., Durand, G., Fujita, S., Gagliardini, O., Gillet,
F., et al. (2007b). Ice flow modelling at EPICA dome C and dome
Fuji, East Antarctica. Climate of the Past, 3, 243–259.
Parrenin, F., Rémy, F., Ritz, C., Siegert, M., & Jouzel, J. (2004). New
modelling of the Vostok ice flow line and implication for the
glaciological chronology of the Vostok ice core. Journal Geophysical Research, 109, D20102.
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Cattani, O., & Jouzel, J. (2006).
10
Be
Evidence for the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal in the
EPICA dome C ice core. Nature, 444(7115), 82–84.
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Jouzel, J., & Stocker, T. F. (2007). Direct
north-south synchronization of abrupt climate change record in ice
cores using beryllium 10. Climate of the Past, 3(3), 541–547.
Rasmussen, S. O., Andersen, K. K., Svensson, A. M., Steffensen, J. P.,
Vinther, B. M., Clausen, H. B., et al. (2006). A new greenland ice
core chronology for the last glacial termination. Journal Geophysical Research, 111, D06102.
Raynaud, D., Lipenkov, V., Lemieux-Dudon, B., Duval, P., Loutre,
M.-F. & Lhomme, N. (2007). The local insolation signature of air
content in Antarctic ice. A newstep toward an absolute dating of
ice records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 261(3–4), 337–
349.
Ritz, C., Rommelaere, V., & Dumas, C. (2001). Modeling the evolution
of antarctic ice sheet over the last 420,000 years: Implications for
altitude changes in the Vostok Region. Journal Geophysical
Research, 106(D23), 31943–31964.
Ruth, U., Barnola, J.-M., Beer, J., Bigler, M., Blunier, T., et al.
‘EDML1: A chronology for the EDML ice core, Antarctica, over
the last 150 000 Years. Climate of the Past, 3, 475–484 (2007).
Salamatin, A. N., Lipenkov, V. Y., Barnola, J. M., Hori, A., Duval, P.,
& Hondoh, T. (2009). Snow-Firn Densification in Polar Ice Sheets.
In T. Hondoh (Ed.), Physics of Ice Core Records-2. Sapporo:
Hokkaido University Press.
Schwander, J., Sowers, T., Barnola, J.-M., Blunier, T., Fuchs, A., &
Malaizé, B. (1997). Age scale of the air in the summit ice:
Implication for the glacial-interglacial temperature change. Journal
Geophysical Research, 102, 19483–19493.
Severi, M., Castellano, E., Morganti, A., Udisti, R., Ruth, U., Fischer,
H., et al. (2007). Synchronisation of the EDML1 and EDC3
timescales for the Last 52 Kyr by volcanic signature matching.
Climate of the Past, 3, 367–374.
134
F. Parrenin