Core drilling on Vernagtferner (Oetztal Alps, Austria) in 1979: Tritium contents
In March 1979, on Vernagtferner (Oetztal Alps, Austria) two cores, I (81 m) and II (45 m), had been drilled the 3H content of which was measured. The cores show clearly the increase of the 3H content in the deposited precipitation due to the nuclear weapon tests which were performed mainly in the time between 1953 and 1962. However, it is difficult to correlate the 3H profiles of core I and II for the layers below 15 m. From the results of core lone can calculate a mean net accumulation rate of 0.7 m water equivalent per year during the time period 1952-1977, the corresponding value of core II being about 0.9 m w. e. per year. The 3H content of former precipitation and of core I is in agreement. Comparing the 3H content of core I with that of a core drilled in 1976 on Vernagtferner one finds general agreement but the concentration peaks do not very well coincide. Traces of up to 10 TV were measured in samples of ice of core I which were taken randomly from depths below. These are supposed to originate from young meltwater penetrating into the glacier.