Formate and acetate are ubiquitous in the troposphere. Their occurrence is closely related to processes in the biosphere and contributes to an understanding of carbon biogeochemical cycles. A 43-year record of formate and acetate in an ice core from Glacier 1 (43°06′N, 86°49′E) at Urumqi river head, Tianshan, west China was investigated. Fluctuating between 22.7 ng·g-1 and 2830.7 ng·g-1, acetate concentration averages 373.2 ± 376.1 ng·g-1 (mean ± 1σ, N = 541) and is the highest anion in the record. Next to acetate, the concentration for formate varies between 2.1 ng·g-1 and 795.5 ng·g-1 and averages 61.1 ± 89.0ng·g-1 (N = 541). The formate to acetate ratio averages 0.22 ± 0.25 (N = 541), indicating that the chief source is from fossil fuel combustion, coal burning in particular. The two species co-varied in the past four decades and exhibited periods of high concentration from the early 1960s to the middle of 1970s and from the early 1980s to the middle of 1990s, separated by a time of the lower concentration between 1975-1980. These variations may reflect the local/regional anthropogenic pollution to the atmosphere as well as the economic development of northwestern China.