First direct dating of Late Pleistocene ice-wedges by AMS

We present the first direct dating by C-14-accelerator mass spectrometry of three Late Pleistocene syngenetic ice-wedges from the Seyaha cross-section. They are representative of permafrost with multistage ice-wedges from the North of Western Siberia. The most important result is the clear vertical age stratification of the ice, i.e. the old ice is located beneath the young. This shows that a timescale can be assigned to these ice-wedges penetrating down into the permafrost. The age of the ice shows a depth of not more than 3-5 m for frost cracking; water penetrated into the ice-wedges at that depth. The lower part of the ice-wedges from the Seyaha cross-section has been dated between 21 000 and 14 000 BP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Winter air temperature during the Holocene optimum in the north-eastern part of the east European plain based on ice wedge stable isotope records

Early Holocene winter air temperatures have been reconstructed for the northeastern part of the East European Plain using stable isotope (δ18O and δ2H) records of syngenetic ice wedges. We show that ice wedges here actively grew synchronously with accumulation of peatlands in bogged and forested depressions between 10 and 8 cal ka BP, corresponding to the early Holocene Thermal Maximum. The slope of the δ2H-δ18O regression line is close to the global meteoric water line. This suggests the preservation of winter precipitation signal in the ice wedge with minor isotope transformation. The low range of stable isotope values in the ice wedge indicates quite stable winter climate conditions, favorable to ice wedge growth. Reconstructed mean winter air temperature was close to modern, but it is assumed that air temperature of the coldest winter month was lower and more stable than at present

AMS-dating of Late Pleistocene and Holocene syngenetic ice-wedges

We discuss the C-14 dating (both conventional and AMS) of Siberian permafrost sediments and ice-wedge ice. Direct dating of Late Pleistocene and Holocene syngenetic ice-wedges was done on organic material included in the ice. The time of ice formation (in C-14 years) is 21,000-14,000 BP for Seyaha, and 7100 BP for Shchuch'ya. The AMS dates show that the ice-wedges stratification is normal, i.e., the older ice is located below the younger. The C-14 dates yield for the first time a timescale (in C-14 years) for paleoclimatic indicators (oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios from the ice). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved