11,700 years old ice

The raw Electrical Conductivity Measurement (ECM) across the termination of the last glacial period showing the onset and the termination of the Younger Dryas period at 521.4 and 520.3 m depth, respectively.

Today we reached ice from the last glacial period! A significant drop in the Electrical Conductivity signal (ECM) at 520.3 m depth shows that we have reached the boundary between the last part of the last glacial period (the Younger Dryas period) and the present interglacial period (the Holocene).

The age of the ice at this transition is 11,700 years before present. Exciting!

The onset of the Younger Dryas period is identified as a rise in the ECM signal at 521.4 m depth. The approximately 1,100 years long Younger Dryas period thus covers a 1.1 m depth interval meaning that the annual layer thickness of this interval is 1 mm.

The depth of this important transition fits well with the estimate from the radar measurements made earlier in the season. Nice!

Due to the warm weather it has only been possible to work in the drill tent for 6 hours today. Logging ended at 523.15 depth.

Weather: Another warm, sunny, and calm day. Temperatures between -2°C and -6°C and wind up to 2 m/s from NW.

Renland FL, Anders