Ice dating techniques
We present successful 81 Kr-Kr radiometric dating of ancient polar ice. Our experimental methods and sampling strategy are validated by i 85 Kr and 39 Ar analyses that show the samples to be free of modern air contamination and ii air content measurements that show the ice did not experience gas loss. We estimate the error in the 81 Kr ages due to past geomagnetic variability to be below 3 ka. We show that ice from the previous interglacial period Marine Isotope Stage 5e, ka before present can be found in abundance near the surface of Taylor Glacier.


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Ice Core Dating
Adapting to endure humanity's impact on the world. The layers that are so useful in dating the glaciers are disappearing because of climate change, so scientists are finding new ways to date glaciers. Katherine McCormick. High in the alps of Switzerland, quantum physicists are taking a chainsaw to the icy walls of glacier caves. These physicists typically spend their working hours in an optics lab at Heidelberg University, where they cool and trap atoms with lasers to study quantum mechanics. Now, in collaboration with glaciologists, they think that this expertise could help them contribute to an entirely different field: climate science.



Ice core analysis and dating techniques
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Since the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice core contains ice formed over a range of years. Cores are drilled with hand augers for shallow holes or powered drills; they can reach depths of over two miles 3.





Archaeologists recently stumbled upon a set of mysterious "ghost footprints" in the salt flats of a Utah desert. These unusual ancient tracks get their eerie name not because they are from an ethereal realm, but due to their earthly composition: They become visible only after it rains and the footprints fill with moisture and become darker in color, before disappearing again after they dry out in the sun. The team initially only found a handful of footprints, but a thorough sweep of the surrounding area using ground-penetrating radar GPR revealed at least 88 individual footprints belonging to a range of adults and children, potentially as young as 5 years old. The GPR technique works by firing radio waves into the ground that bounce off objects that are hidden under the surface. The ghostly prints were left by bare human feet at least 10, years ago when the area was still a vast wetland.
