ИСТИНА

Ice wedges are widely distributed in non-glaciated high northern latitudes, are diagnostic of permafrost and, in general, indicative of cold and stable climate conditions. They are found in continuous and discontinuous permafrost zones and may also have formed during and survived interglacials. They may provide unique paleo information that is not captured by other climate archives. Usually, ice wedges are dated by radiocarbon dating of organic material incorporated in the ice, but also 36Cl/Cl ratios have been successfully used to date ice wedges. Nevertheless reliable age determination is challenging when studying ice wedges. Here we tackle the potential of ice wedges from the Siberian and American Arctic to trace past climate changes from stable isotope variations from the differentiation of Late Quaternary stratigraphic units to detailed centennial scale climate records of the Late Glacial and Holocene. Based on several examples we discuss the opportunities and difficulties of ice-wedge based paleoclimate studies.