Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-631-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-631-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
01 Apr 2022
Research article |
| 01 Apr 2022
| 01 Apr 2022
Northern Hemisphere atmospheric history of carbon monoxide since preindustrial times reconstructed from multiple Greenland ice cores
Xavier Faïn
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, France
Rachael H. Rhodes
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
Philip Place
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Vasilii V. Petrenko
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Kévin Fourteau
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Université de Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, CNRM, Centre d'Études de la Neige,38000 Grenoble, France
Nathan Chellman
Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Edward Crosier
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Joseph R. McConnell
Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Edward J. Brook
College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Thomas Blunier
Physics of Ice, Climate and Earth, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
Michel Legrand
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, Université de Paris and Université Paris-Est Créteil, CNRS, LISA, 75013, France
Jérôme Chappellaz
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, France
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Xavier Faïn, Sophie Szopa, Vaishali Naïk, Patricia Martinerie, David M. Etheridge, Rachael H. Rhodes, Cathy M. Trudinger, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Kévin Fourteau, and Philip Place
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1105–1119, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1105-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1105-2025, 2025
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Carbon monoxide (CO) plays a crucial role in the atmosphere's oxidizing capacity. In this study, we analyse how historical (1850–2014) [CO] outputs from state-of-the-art global chemistry–climate models over Greenland and Antarctica are able to capture both absolute values and trends recorded in multi-site ice archives. A disparity in [CO] growth rates emerges in the Northern Hemisphere between models and observations from 1920–1975 CE, possibly linked to uncertainties in CO emission factors.
Julien Westhoff, Johannes Freitag, Anaïs Orsi, Patricia Martinerie, Ilka Weikusat, Michael Dyonisius, Xavier Faïn, Kevin Fourteau, and Thomas Blunier
The Cryosphere, 18, 4379–4397, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4379-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4379-2024, 2024
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We study the EastGRIP area, Greenland, in detail with traditional and novel techniques. Due to the compaction of the ice, at a certain depth, atmospheric gases can no longer exchange, and the atmosphere is trapped in air bubbles in the ice. We find this depth by pumping air from a borehole, modeling, and using a new technique based on the optical appearance of the ice. Our results suggest that the close-off depth lies at around 58–61 m depth and more precisely at 58.3 m depth.
Benjamin Hmiel, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Christo Buizert, Andrew M. Smith, Michael N. Dyonisius, Philip Place, Bin Yang, Quan Hua, Ross Beaudette, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Christina Harth, Ray F. Weiss, Lindsey Davidge, Melisa Diaz, Matthew Pacicco, James A. Menking, Michael Kalk, Xavier Faïn, Alden Adolph, Isaac Vimont, and Lee T. Murray
The Cryosphere, 18, 3363–3382, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3363-2024, 2024
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The main aim of this research is to improve understanding of carbon-14 that is produced by cosmic rays in ice sheets. Measurements of carbon-14 in ice cores can provide a range of useful information (age of ice, past atmospheric chemistry, past cosmic ray intensity). Our results show that almost all (>99 %) of carbon-14 that is produced in the upper layer of ice sheets is rapidly lost to the atmosphere. Our results also provide better estimates of carbon-14 production rates in deeper ice.
Xavier Faïn, David M. Etheridge, Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Cathy M. Trudinger, Rachael H. Rhodes, Nathan J. Chellman, Ray L. Langenfelds, Joseph R. McConnell, Mark A. J. Curran, Edward J. Brook, Thomas Blunier, Grégory Teste, Roberto Grilli, Anthony Lemoine, William T. Sturges, Boris Vannière, Johannes Freitag, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 19, 2287–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2287-2023, 2023
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We report on a 3000-year record of carbon monoxide (CO) levels in the Southern Hemisphere's high latitudes by combining ice core and firn air measurements with modern direct atmospheric samples. Antarctica [CO] remained stable (–835 to 1500 CE), decreased during the Little Ice Age, and peaked around 1985 CE. Such evolution reflects stable biomass burning CO emissions before industrialization, followed by growth from CO anthropogenic sources, which decline after 1985 due to improved combustion.
Aymeric P. M. Servettaz, Anaïs J. Orsi, Mark A. J. Curran, Andrew D. Moy, Amaelle Landais, Joseph R. McConnell, Trevor J. Popp, Emmanuel Le Meur, Xavier Faïn, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 19, 1125–1152, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1125-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1125-2023, 2023
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The temperature of the past 2000 years is still poorly known in vast parts of the East Antarctic plateau. In this study, we present temperature reconstructions based on water and gas stable isotopes from the Aurora Basin North ice core. Spatial and temporal significance of each proxy differs, and we can identify some cold periods in the snow temperature up to 2°C cooler in the 1000–1400 CE period, which could not be determined with water isotopes only.
Kévin Fourteau, Laurent Arnaud, Xavier Faïn, Patricia Martinerie, David M. Etheridge, Vladimir Lipenkov, and Jean-Marc Barnola
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1171–1177, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1171-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1171-2020, 2020
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Measurements of the porosity of three polar firns were conducted in the 1990s by Jean-Marc Barnola using the method of gas pycnometry. From these data, a parametrization of firn pore closure was produced and used in different published articles. However, the data have not been published in their own right yet. We have made the data publicly accessible on the PANGAEA database and here propose describing how they were obtained and used to produce the pore closure parametrization.
Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Xavier Faïn, Alexey A. Ekaykin, Jérôme Chappellaz, and Vladimir Lipenkov
Clim. Past, 16, 503–522, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-503-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-503-2020, 2020
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We quantify how the greenhouse gas records of East Antarctic ice cores (which are the oldest ice cores) might differ from the actual atmosphere history. It is required to properly interpret ice core data. For this, we measured the methane of five new East Antarctic ice core sections using a high-resolution technique. We found that in these very old ice cores, one can retrieve concentration variations occurring in only a few centuries, allowing climatologists to study climate's fast dynamics.
Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Xavier Faïn, Christoph F. Schaller, Rebecca J. Tuckwell, Henning Löwe, Laurent Arnaud, Olivier Magand, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Johannes Freitag, Robert Mulvaney, Martin Schneebeli, and Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov
The Cryosphere, 13, 3383–3403, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019, 2019
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Understanding gas trapping in polar ice is essential to study the relationship between greenhouse gases and past climates. New data of bubble closure, used in a simple gas-trapping model, show inconsistency with the final air content in ice. This suggests gas trapping is not fully understood. We also use a combination of high-resolution measurements to investigate the effect of polar snow stratification on gas trapping and find that all strata have similar pores, but that some close in advance.
Kévin Fourteau, Xavier Faïn, Patricia Martinerie, Amaëlle Landais, Alexey A. Ekaykin, Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 13, 1815–1830, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1815-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1815-2017, 2017
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We measured methane concentrations from a polar ice core to quantify the differences between the ice record and the past true atmospheric conditions. Two effects were investigated by combining data analysis and modeling: the stratification of polar snow before gas enclosure driving chronological hiatuses in the record and the gradual formation of bubbles in the ice attenuating fast atmospheric variations. This study will contribute to improving future climatic interpretations from ice archives.
Irène Ventrillard, Irène Xueref-Remy, Martina Schmidt, Camille Yver Kwok, Xavier Faïn, and Daniele Romanini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1803–1812, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1803-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1803-2017, 2017
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We present a comparison of CO measurements performed with a portable OF-CEAS laser spectrometer against a high-performance gas chromatograph. For both surface and airborne measurements, the instruments show an excellent agreement very close to the 2 ppb World Meteorological Organization recommendation for CO inter-laboratory comparison. This work establishes that this laser technique allows for the development of sensitive, compact, robust and reliable instruments for in situ trace-gas analysis.
Saehee Lim, Xavier Faïn, Patrick Ginot, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Stanislav Kutuzov, Jean-Daniel Paris, Anna Kozachek, and Paolo Laj
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3489–3505, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3489-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3489-2017, 2017
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A record of light-absorbing refractory black carbon (rBC), emitted by fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, was reconstructed from the ice cores drilled at a high-altitude eastern European site in Mt. Elbrus. This record reports for the first time the high-resolution rBC mass concentrations in the European outflows over the past 189 years. Our study suggests that the past changes in BC emissions of eastern Europe need to be considered in assessing ongoing air quality regulations.
Rachael H. Rhodes, Xavier Faïn, Edward J. Brook, Joseph R. McConnell, Olivia J. Maselli, Michael Sigl, Jon Edwards, Christo Buizert, Thomas Blunier, Jérôme Chappellaz, and Johannes Freitag
Clim. Past, 12, 1061–1077, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1061-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1061-2016, 2016
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Local artifacts in ice core methane data are superimposed on consistent records of past atmospheric variability. These artifacts are not related to past atmospheric history and care should be taken to avoid interpreting them as such. By investigating five polar ice cores from sites with different conditions, we relate isolated methane spikes to melt layers and decimetre-scale variations as "trapping signal" associated with a difference in timing of air bubble closure in adjacent firn layers.
Michael Sigl, Tyler J. Fudge, Mai Winstrup, Jihong Cole-Dai, David Ferris, Joseph R. McConnell, Ken C. Taylor, Kees C. Welten, Thomas E. Woodruff, Florian Adolphi, Marion Bisiaux, Edward J. Brook, Christo Buizert, Marc W. Caffee, Nelia W. Dunbar, Ross Edwards, Lei Geng, Nels Iverson, Bess Koffman, Lawrence Layman, Olivia J. Maselli, Kenneth McGwire, Raimund Muscheler, Kunihiko Nishiizumi, Daniel R. Pasteris, Rachael H. Rhodes, and Todd A. Sowers
Clim. Past, 12, 769–786, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-769-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-769-2016, 2016
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Here we present a chronology (WD2014) for the upper part (0–2850 m; 31.2 ka BP) of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core, which is based on layer counting of distinctive annual cycles preserved in the elemental, chemical and electrical conductivity records. We validated the chronology by comparing it to independent high-accuracy, absolutely dated chronologies. Given its demonstrated high accuracy, WD2014 can become a reference chronology for the Southern Hemisphere.
V. Mikhalenko, S. Sokratov, S. Kutuzov, P. Ginot, M. Legrand, S. Preunkert, I. Lavrentiev, A. Kozachek, A. Ekaykin, X. Faïn, S. Lim, U. Schotterer, V. Lipenkov, and P. Toropov
The Cryosphere, 9, 2253–2270, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2253-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2253-2015, 2015
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For the first time an ice core unaffected by melting was recovered from the western Elbrus plateau in the Caucasus. The preserved chemical and isotopic data are considered a source of paleo-climate information for southern/eastern Europe. Considerable snow accumulation (about 1500mm w.e.) and high sampling resolution allowed seasonal variability to be obtained in climate signals, covering a time period of about 200 years. Ice flow models suggest that the basal ice age can be more than 600 years.
S. Lim, X. Faïn, M. Zanatta, J. Cozic, J.-L. Jaffrezo, P. Ginot, and P. Laj
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 3307–3324, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3307-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3307-2014, 2014
X. Faïn, J. Chappellaz, R. H. Rhodes, C. Stowasser, T. Blunier, J. R. McConnell, E. J. Brook, S. Preunkert, M. Legrand, T. Debois, and D. Romanini
Clim. Past, 10, 987–1000, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-987-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-987-2014, 2014
J. Chappellaz, C. Stowasser, T. Blunier, D. Baslev-Clausen, E. J. Brook, R. Dallmayr, X. Faïn, J. E. Lee, L. E. Mitchell, O. Pascual, D. Romanini, J. Rosen, and S. Schüpbach
Clim. Past, 9, 2579–2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2579-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2579-2013, 2013
Léon Roussel, Marie Dumont, Marion Réveillet, Delphine Six, Marin Kneib, Pierre Nabat, Kevin Fourteau, Diego Monteiro, Simon Gascoin, Emmanuel Thibert, Antoine Rabatel, Jean-Emmanuel Sicart, Mylène Bonnefoy, Luc Piard, Olivier Laarman, Bruno Jourdain, Mathieu Fructus, Matthieu Vernay, and Matthieu Lafaysse
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1741, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1741, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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Saharan dust deposits frequently color alpine glaciers orange. Mineral dust reduces snow albedo and increases snow and glaciers melt rate. Using physical modeling, we quantified the impact of dust on the Argentière Glacier over the period 2019–2022. We found that that the contribution of mineral dust to the melt represents between 6 and 12 % of Argentière Glacier summer melt. At specific locations, the impact of dust over one year can rise to an equivalent of 1 meter of melted ice.
Piers Larkman, Rachael H. Rhodes, Nicolas Stoll, Carlo Barbante, and Pascal Bohleber
The Cryosphere, 19, 1373–1390, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1373-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1373-2025, 2025
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Impurities in ice cores can be preferentially located at the boundaries between crystals of ice, impacting the interpretation of high-resolution data collected from ice core samples. Through use of a modelling framework, we demonstrate that one-dimensional signals can be significantly affected by this association, meaning high-resolution measurements must be carefully designed. Accounting for this effect is important for interpreting ice core data, especially for deep ice samples.
Pascal Bohleber, Nicolas Stoll, Piers Larkman, Rachael H. Rhodes, and David Clases
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-355, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-355, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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To avoid misinterpretation of impurity signals in ice cores, post-depositional changes need to be identified. Peak broadening with depth observed especially for S was previously related to diffusion in ice veins, but the exact physical mechanisms remain unclear. Our two-dimensional impurity maps by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry were extended for the first time to S and Cl and support a view on diffusion not only through veins but also along grain boundaries.
Sindhu Vudayagiri, Bo Vinther, Johannes Freitag, Peter L. Langen, and Thomas Blunier
Clim. Past, 21, 517–528, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-517-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-517-2025, 2025
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Air trapped in polar ice during snowfall reflects atmospheric pressure at the time of occlusion, serving as a proxy for elevation. However, melting, firn structure changes, and air pressure variability complicate this relationship. We measured total air content (TAC) in the RECAP ice core from Renland ice cap, eastern Greenland, spanning 121 000 years. Melt layers and short-term TAC variations, whose origins remain unclear, present challenges in interpreting elevation changes.
Qinggang Gao, Emilie Capron, Louise C. Sime, Rachael H. Rhodes, Rahul Sivankutty, Xu Zhang, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, and Martin Werner
Clim. Past, 21, 419–440, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-419-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-419-2025, 2025
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Marine sediment and ice core records suggest a warmer Southern Ocean and Antarctica at the early last interglacial, ~127 000 years ago. However, when only forced by orbital parameters and greenhouse gas concentrations during that period, state-of-the-art climate models do not reproduce the magnitude of warming. Here we show that much of the warming at southern middle to high latitudes can be reproduced by a UK climate model, HadCM3, with a 3000-year freshwater forcing over the North Atlantic.
Michel Legrand, Mstislav Vorobyev, Daria Bokuchava, Stanislav Kutuzov, Andreas Plach, Andreas Stohl, Alexandra Khairedinova, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Maria Vinogradova, Sabine Eckhardt, and Susanne Preunkert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1385–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1385-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1385-2025, 2025
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Past atmospheric NH3 pollution in south-eastern Europe was reconstructed by analysing ammonium in an ice core drilled at the Mount Elbrus (Caucasus, Russia). The observed 3.5-fold increase in ice concentrations between 1750 and 1990 CE is in good agreement with estimated past dominant ammonia emissions from agriculture, mainly from south European Russia and Türkiye. In contrast to present-day conditions, the ammonium level observed in 1750 CE indicates significant natural emissions at that time.
Xavier Faïn, Sophie Szopa, Vaishali Naïk, Patricia Martinerie, David M. Etheridge, Rachael H. Rhodes, Cathy M. Trudinger, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Kévin Fourteau, and Philip Place
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1105–1119, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1105-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1105-2025, 2025
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Carbon monoxide (CO) plays a crucial role in the atmosphere's oxidizing capacity. In this study, we analyse how historical (1850–2014) [CO] outputs from state-of-the-art global chemistry–climate models over Greenland and Antarctica are able to capture both absolute values and trends recorded in multi-site ice archives. A disparity in [CO] growth rates emerges in the Northern Hemisphere between models and observations from 1920–1975 CE, possibly linked to uncertainties in CO emission factors.
Helene Hoffmann, Jason Day, Rachael H. Rhodes, Mackenzie Grieman, Jack Humby, Isobel Rowell, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Robert Mulvaney, Sally Gibson, and Eric Wolff
The Cryosphere, 18, 4993–5013, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4993-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4993-2024, 2024
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Ice cores are archives of past atmospheric conditions. In deep and old ice, the layers containing this information get thinned to the millimetre scale or below. We installed a setup for high-resolution (182 μm) chemical impurity measurements in ice cores using the laser ablation technique at the University of Cambridge. In a first application to the Skytrain ice core from Antarctica, we discuss the potential to detect fine-layered structures in ice up to an age of 26 000 years.
Margaret Harlan, Helle Astrid Kjær, Aylin de Campo, Anders Svensson, Thomas Blunier, Vasileios Gkinis, Sarah Jackson, Christopher Plummer, and Tessa Vance
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-335, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-335, 2024
Preprint under review for ESSD
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This paper provides high-resolution chemistry and impurity measurements from the Mount Brown South ice core in East Antarctica, from 873 to 2009 CE. Measurements include sodium, ammonium, hydrogen peroxide, electrolytic conductivity, and insoluble microparticles. Data are provided on three scales: 1 mm and 3 cm averaged depth resolution and decadally averaged. The paper also describes the continuous flow analysis systems used to collect the data as well as uncertainties and data quality.
Julien Westhoff, Johannes Freitag, Anaïs Orsi, Patricia Martinerie, Ilka Weikusat, Michael Dyonisius, Xavier Faïn, Kevin Fourteau, and Thomas Blunier
The Cryosphere, 18, 4379–4397, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4379-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-4379-2024, 2024
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We study the EastGRIP area, Greenland, in detail with traditional and novel techniques. Due to the compaction of the ice, at a certain depth, atmospheric gases can no longer exchange, and the atmosphere is trapped in air bubbles in the ice. We find this depth by pumping air from a borehole, modeling, and using a new technique based on the optical appearance of the ice. Our results suggest that the close-off depth lies at around 58–61 m depth and more precisely at 58.3 m depth.
Rachael H. Rhodes, Yvan Bollet-Quivogne, Piers Barnes, Mirko Severi, and Eric W. Wolff
Clim. Past, 20, 2031–2043, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2031-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2031-2024, 2024
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Some ionic components slowly move through glacier ice by diffusion, but the rate of this diffusion, its exact mechanism(s), and the factors that might influence it are poorly understood. In this study, we model how peaks in sulfate, deposited at Dome C on the Antarctic ice sheet after volcanic eruptions, change with depth and time. We find that the sulfate diffusion rate in ice is relatively fast in young ice near the surface, but the rate is markedly reduced over time.
Vasilii V. Petrenko, Segev BenZvi, Michael Dyonisius, Benjamin Hmiel, Andrew M. Smith, and Christo Buizert
The Cryosphere, 18, 3439–3451, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3439-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3439-2024, 2024
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This manuscript presents the concept for a new proxy for past variations in the galactic cosmic ray flux (GCR). Past variations in GCR flux are important to understand for interpretation of records of isotopes produced by cosmic rays; these records are used for reconstructing solar variations and past land ice extent. The proxy involves using measurements of 14CO in ice cores, which should provide an uncomplicated and precise estimate of past GCR flux variations for the past few thousand years.
Benjamin Hmiel, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Christo Buizert, Andrew M. Smith, Michael N. Dyonisius, Philip Place, Bin Yang, Quan Hua, Ross Beaudette, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Christina Harth, Ray F. Weiss, Lindsey Davidge, Melisa Diaz, Matthew Pacicco, James A. Menking, Michael Kalk, Xavier Faïn, Alden Adolph, Isaac Vimont, and Lee T. Murray
The Cryosphere, 18, 3363–3382, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-3363-2024, 2024
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The main aim of this research is to improve understanding of carbon-14 that is produced by cosmic rays in ice sheets. Measurements of carbon-14 in ice cores can provide a range of useful information (age of ice, past atmospheric chemistry, past cosmic ray intensity). Our results show that almost all (>99 %) of carbon-14 that is produced in the upper layer of ice sheets is rapidly lost to the atmosphere. Our results also provide better estimates of carbon-14 production rates in deeper ice.
Kévin Fourteau, Johannes Freitag, Mika Malinen, and Henning Löwe
The Cryosphere, 18, 2831–2846, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2831-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2831-2024, 2024
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Understanding the settling of snow under its own weight has applications from avalanche forecasts to ice core interpretations. We study how this settling can be modeled using 3D images of the internal structure of snow and ice deformation mechanics. We found that classical ice mechanics, as used, for instance, in glacier flow, explain the compaction of dense polar snow but not that of lighter seasonal snow. How, exactly, the ice deforms during light snow compaction thus remains an open question.
Susanne Preunkert, Pascal Bohleber, Michel Legrand, Adrien Gilbert, Tobias Erhardt, Roland Purtschert, Lars Zipf, Astrid Waldner, Joseph R. McConnell, and Hubertus Fischer
The Cryosphere, 18, 2177–2194, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2177-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2177-2024, 2024
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Ice cores from high-elevation Alpine glaciers are an important tool to reconstruct the past atmosphere. However, since crevasses are common at these glacier sites, rigorous investigations of glaciological conditions upstream of drill sites are needed before interpreting such ice cores. On the basis of three ice cores extracted at Col du Dôme (4250 m a.s.l; French Alps), an overall picture of a dynamic crevasse formation is drawn, which disturbs the depth–age relation of two of the three cores.
Anna Braun, Kévin Fourteau, and Henning Löwe
The Cryosphere, 18, 1653–1668, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1653-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1653-2024, 2024
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The specific surface of snow dictates key physical properties and continuously evolves in natural snowpacks. This is referred to as metamorphism. This work develops a rigorous physical model for this evolution, which is able to reproduce X-ray tomography measurements without using unphysical tuning parameters. Our results emphasize that snow crystal growth at the micrometer scale ultimately controls the pace of metamorphism.
Kavitha Sundu, Johannes Freitag, Kévin Fourteau, and Henning Löwe
The Cryosphere, 18, 1579–1596, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1579-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1579-2024, 2024
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Ice crystals often show a rod-like, vertical orientation in snow and firn; they are said to be anisotropic. The stiffness in the vertical direction therefore differs from the horizontal, which, for example, impacts the propagation of seismic waves. To quantify this anisotropy, we conducted finite-element simulations of 391 snow, firn, and ice core microstructures obtained from X-ray tomography. We then derived a parameterization that may be employed for advanced seismic studies in polar regions.
Kévin Fourteau, Julien Brondex, Fanny Brun, and Marie Dumont
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1903–1929, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1903-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1903-2024, 2024
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In this paper, we provide a novel numerical implementation for solving the energy exchanges at the surface of snow and ice. By combining the strong points of previous models, our solution leads to more accurate and robust simulations of the energy exchanges, surface temperature, and melt while preserving a reasonable computation time.
Qinggang Gao, Louise C. Sime, Alison J. McLaren, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Emilie Capron, Rachael H. Rhodes, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Xiaoxu Shi, and Martin Werner
The Cryosphere, 18, 683–703, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-683-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-683-2024, 2024
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Antarctic precipitation is a crucial component of the climate system. Its spatio-temporal variability impacts sea level changes and the interpretation of water isotope measurements in ice cores. To better understand its climatic drivers, we developed water tracers in an atmospheric model to identify moisture source conditions from which precipitation originates. We find that mid-latitude surface winds exert an important control on moisture availability for Antarctic precipitation.
Vladimir Mikhalenko, Stanislav Kutuzov, Pavel Toropov, Michel Legrand, Sergey Sokratov, Gleb Chernyakov, Ivan Lavrentiev, Susanne Preunkert, Anna Kozachek, Mstislav Vorobiev, Aleksandra Khairedinova, and Vladimir Lipenkov
Clim. Past, 20, 237–255, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-237-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-237-2024, 2024
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In this paper, we present a reconstruction of snow accumulation for both summer and winter over the past 260 years using ice-core records obtained from Mt. Elbrus in the Caucasus region. The accumulation record represents the historical precipitation patterns in a vast region encompassing the northern Caucasus, Black Sea, and southeastern Europe. Our findings show that the North Atlantic plays a crucial role in determining precipitation levels in this region.
John D. Patterson, Murat Aydin, Andrew M. Crotwell, Gabrielle Pétron, Jeffery P. Severinghaus, Paul B. Krummel, Ray L. Langenfelds, Vasilii V. Petrenko, and Eric S. Saltzman
Clim. Past, 19, 2535–2550, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2535-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2535-2023, 2023
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Atmospheric levels of molecular hydrogen (H2) can impact climate and air quality. Constraining past changes to atmospheric H2 is useful for understanding how H2 cycles through the Earth system and predicting the impacts of increasing anthropogenic emissions under the
hydrogen economy. Here, we use the aging air found in the polar snowpack to reconstruct H2 levels over the past 100 years. We find that H2 levels increased by 30 % over Greenland and 60 % over Antarctica during the 20th century.
Julien Brondex, Kévin Fourteau, Marie Dumont, Pascal Hagenmuller, Neige Calonne, François Tuzet, and Henning Löwe
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 7075–7106, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-7075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-7075-2023, 2023
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Vapor diffusion is one of the main processes governing snowpack evolution, and it must be accounted for in models. Recent attempts to represent vapor diffusion in numerical models have faced several difficulties regarding computational cost and mass and energy conservation. Here, we develop our own finite-element software to explore numerical approaches and enable us to overcome these difficulties. We illustrate the capability of these approaches on established numerical benchmarks.
Xavier Faïn, David M. Etheridge, Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Cathy M. Trudinger, Rachael H. Rhodes, Nathan J. Chellman, Ray L. Langenfelds, Joseph R. McConnell, Mark A. J. Curran, Edward J. Brook, Thomas Blunier, Grégory Teste, Roberto Grilli, Anthony Lemoine, William T. Sturges, Boris Vannière, Johannes Freitag, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 19, 2287–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2287-2023, 2023
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We report on a 3000-year record of carbon monoxide (CO) levels in the Southern Hemisphere's high latitudes by combining ice core and firn air measurements with modern direct atmospheric samples. Antarctica [CO] remained stable (–835 to 1500 CE), decreased during the Little Ice Age, and peaked around 1985 CE. Such evolution reflects stable biomass burning CO emissions before industrialization, followed by growth from CO anthropogenic sources, which decline after 1985 due to improved combustion.
Jenna A. Epifanio, Edward J. Brook, Christo Buizert, Erin C. Pettit, Jon S. Edwards, John M. Fegyveresi, Todd A. Sowers, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, and Emma C. Kahle
The Cryosphere, 17, 4837–4851, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4837-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4837-2023, 2023
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The total air content (TAC) of polar ice cores has long been considered a potential proxy for past ice sheet elevation. This study presents a high-resolution record of TAC from the South Pole ice core. The record reveals orbital- and millennial-scale variability that cannot be explained by elevation changes. The orbital- and millennial-scale changes are likely a product of firn grain metamorphism near the surface of the ice sheet, due to summer insolation changes or local accumulation changes.
Fanny Brun, Owen King, Marion Réveillet, Charles Amory, Anton Planchot, Etienne Berthier, Amaury Dehecq, Tobias Bolch, Kévin Fourteau, Julien Brondex, Marie Dumont, Christoph Mayer, Silvan Leinss, Romain Hugonnet, and Patrick Wagnon
The Cryosphere, 17, 3251–3268, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3251-2023, 2023
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The South Col Glacier is a small body of ice and snow located on the southern ridge of Mt. Everest. A recent study proposed that South Col Glacier is rapidly losing mass. In this study, we examined the glacier thickness change for the period 1984–2017 and found no thickness change. To reconcile these results, we investigate wind erosion and surface energy and mass balance and find that melt is unlikely a dominant process, contrary to previous findings.
Elizabeth R. Thomas, Diana O. Vladimirova, Dieter R. Tetzner, B. Daniel Emanuelsson, Nathan Chellman, Daniel A. Dixon, Hugues Goosse, Mackenzie M. Grieman, Amy C. F. King, Michael Sigl, Danielle G. Udy, Tessa R. Vance, Dominic A. Winski, V. Holly L. Winton, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Akira Hori, Chavarukonam M. Laluraj, Joseph R. McConnell, Yuko Motizuki, Kazuya Takahashi, Hideaki Motoyama, Yoichi Nakai, Franciéle Schwanck, Jefferson Cardia Simões, Filipe Gaudie Ley Lindau, Mirko Severi, Rita Traversi, Sarah Wauthy, Cunde Xiao, Jiao Yang, Ellen Mosely-Thompson, Tamara V. Khodzher, Ludmila P. Golobokova, and Alexey A. Ekaykin
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2517–2532, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2517-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2517-2023, 2023
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The concentration of sodium and sulfate measured in Antarctic ice cores is related to changes in both sea ice and winds. Here we have compiled a database of sodium and sulfate records from 105 ice core sites in Antarctica. The records span all, or part, of the past 2000 years. The records will improve our understanding of how winds and sea ice have changed in the past and how they have influenced the climate of Antarctica over the past 2000 years.
Aymeric P. M. Servettaz, Anaïs J. Orsi, Mark A. J. Curran, Andrew D. Moy, Amaelle Landais, Joseph R. McConnell, Trevor J. Popp, Emmanuel Le Meur, Xavier Faïn, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 19, 1125–1152, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1125-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1125-2023, 2023
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The temperature of the past 2000 years is still poorly known in vast parts of the East Antarctic plateau. In this study, we present temperature reconstructions based on water and gas stable isotopes from the Aurora Basin North ice core. Spatial and temporal significance of each proxy differs, and we can identify some cold periods in the snow temperature up to 2°C cooler in the 1000–1400 CE period, which could not be determined with water isotopes only.
Anja Eichler, Michel Legrand, Theo M. Jenk, Susanne Preunkert, Camilla Andersson, Sabine Eckhardt, Magnuz Engardt, Andreas Plach, and Margit Schwikowski
The Cryosphere, 17, 2119–2137, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2119-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2119-2023, 2023
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We investigate how a 250-year history of the emission of air pollutants (major inorganic aerosol constituents, black carbon, and trace species) is preserved in ice cores from four sites in the European Alps. The observed uniform timing in species-dependent longer-term concentration changes reveals that the different ice-core records provide a consistent, spatially representative signal of the pollution history from western European countries.
Michaela Mühl, Jochen Schmitt, Barbara Seth, James E. Lee, Jon S. Edwards, Edward J. Brook, Thomas Blunier, and Hubertus Fischer
Clim. Past, 19, 999–1025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-999-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-999-2023, 2023
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Our ice core measurements show that methane, ethane, and propane concentrations are significantly elevated above their past atmospheric background for Greenland ice samples containing mineral dust. The underlying co-production process happens during the classical discrete wet extraction of air from the ice sample and affects previous reconstructions of the inter-polar difference of methane as well as methane stable isotope records derived from dust-rich Greenland ice.
Robert Mulvaney, Eric W. Wolff, Mackenzie M. Grieman, Helene H. Hoffmann, Jack D. Humby, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Rachael H. Rhodes, Isobel F. Rowell, Frédéric Parrenin, Loïc Schmidely, Hubertus Fischer, Thomas F. Stocker, Marcus Christl, Raimund Muscheler, Amaelle Landais, and Frédéric Prié
Clim. Past, 19, 851–864, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-851-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-851-2023, 2023
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We present an age scale for a new ice core drilled at Skytrain Ice Rise, an ice rise facing the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Various measurements in the ice and air phases are used to match the ice core to other Antarctic cores that have already been dated, and a new age scale is constructed. The 651 m ice core includes ice that is confidently dated to 117 000–126 000 years ago, in the last interglacial. Older ice is found deeper down, but there are flow disturbances in the deeper ice.
Christo Buizert, Sarah Shackleton, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, William H. G. Roberts, Alan Seltzer, Bernhard Bereiter, Kenji Kawamura, Daniel Baggenstos, Anaïs J. Orsi, Ikumi Oyabu, Benjamin Birner, Jacob D. Morgan, Edward J. Brook, David M. Etheridge, David Thornton, Nancy Bertler, Rebecca L. Pyne, Robert Mulvaney, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Peter D. Neff, and Vasilii V. Petrenko
Clim. Past, 19, 579–606, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-579-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-579-2023, 2023
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It is unclear how different components of the global atmospheric circulation, such as the El Niño effect, respond to large-scale climate change. We present a new ice core gas proxy, called krypton-86 excess, that reflects past storminess in Antarctica. We present data from 11 ice cores that suggest the new proxy works. We present a reconstruction of changes in West Antarctic storminess over the last 24 000 years and suggest these are caused by north–south movement of the tropical rain belt.
Michael N. Dyonisius, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Andrew M. Smith, Benjamin Hmiel, Peter D. Neff, Bin Yang, Quan Hua, Jochen Schmitt, Sarah A. Shackleton, Christo Buizert, Philip F. Place, James A. Menking, Ross Beaudette, Christina Harth, Michael Kalk, Heidi A. Roop, Bernhard Bereiter, Casey Armanetti, Isaac Vimont, Sylvia Englund Michel, Edward J. Brook, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Ray F. Weiss, and Joseph R. McConnell
The Cryosphere, 17, 843–863, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-843-2023, 2023
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Cosmic rays that enter the atmosphere produce secondary particles which react with surface minerals to produce radioactive nuclides. These nuclides are often used to constrain Earth's surface processes. However, the production rates from muons are not well constrained. We measured 14C in ice with a well-known exposure history to constrain the production rates from muons. 14C production in ice is analogous to quartz, but we obtain different production rates compared to commonly used estimates.
François Burgay, Rafael Pedro Fernández, Delia Segato, Clara Turetta, Christopher S. Blaszczak-Boxe, Rachael H. Rhodes, Claudio Scarchilli, Virginia Ciardini, Carlo Barbante, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, and Andrea Spolaor
The Cryosphere, 17, 391–405, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-391-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-391-2023, 2023
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The paper presents the first ice-core record of bromine (Br) in the Antarctic plateau. By the observation of the ice core and the application of atmospheric chemical models, we investigate the behaviour of bromine after its deposition into the snowpack, with interest in the effect of UV radiation change connected to the formation of the ozone hole, the role of volcanic deposition, and the possible use of Br to reconstruct past sea ice changes from ice core collect in the inner Antarctic plateau.
Jinhwa Shin, Jinho Ahn, Jai Chowdhry Beeman, Hun-Gyu Lee, Jaemyeong Mango Seo, and Edward J. Brook
Clim. Past, 18, 2063–2075, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2063-2022, 2022
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We present a new and highly resolved atmospheric CO2 record from the Siple Dome ice core, Antarctica, over the early Holocene (11.7–7.4 ka). Atmospheric CO2 decreased by ~10 ppm from 10.9 to 7.3 ka, but the decrease was punctuated by local minima at 11.1, 10.1, 9.1, and 8.3 ka. We found millennial CO2 variability of 2–6 ppm, and the millennial CO2 variations correlate with proxies for solar forcing and local climate in the Southern Ocean, North Atlantic, and eastern equatorial Pacific.
Xavier Crosta, Karen E. Kohfeld, Helen C. Bostock, Matthew Chadwick, Alice Du Vivier, Oliver Esper, Johan Etourneau, Jacob Jones, Amy Leventer, Juliane Müller, Rachael H. Rhodes, Claire S. Allen, Pooja Ghadi, Nele Lamping, Carina B. Lange, Kelly-Anne Lawler, David Lund, Alice Marzocchi, Katrin J. Meissner, Laurie Menviel, Abhilash Nair, Molly Patterson, Jennifer Pike, Joseph G. Prebble, Christina Riesselman, Henrik Sadatzki, Louise C. Sime, Sunil K. Shukla, Lena Thöle, Maria-Elena Vorrath, Wenshen Xiao, and Jiao Yang
Clim. Past, 18, 1729–1756, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1729-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1729-2022, 2022
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Despite its importance in the global climate, our knowledge of Antarctic sea-ice changes throughout the last glacial–interglacial cycle is extremely limited. As part of the Cycles of Sea Ice Dynamics in the Earth system (C-SIDE) Working Group, we review marine- and ice-core-based sea-ice proxies to provide insights into their applicability and limitations. By compiling published records, we provide information on Antarctic sea-ice dynamics over the past 130 000 years.
Silvia Becagli, Elena Barbaro, Simone Bonamano, Laura Caiazzo, Alcide di Sarra, Matteo Feltracco, Paolo Grigioni, Jost Heintzenberg, Luigi Lazzara, Michel Legrand, Alice Madonia, Marco Marcelli, Chiara Melillo, Daniela Meloni, Caterina Nuccio, Giandomenico Pace, Ki-Tae Park, Suzanne Preunkert, Mirko Severi, Marco Vecchiato, Roberta Zangrando, and Rita Traversi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9245–9263, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9245-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9245-2022, 2022
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Measurements of phytoplanktonic dimethylsulfide and its oxidation products in the Antarctic atmosphere allow us to understand the role of the oceanic (sea ice melting, Chl α and dimethylsulfoniopropionate) and atmospheric (wind direction and speed, humidity, solar radiation and transport processes) factors in the biogenic aerosol formation, concentration and characteristic ratio between components in an Antarctic coastal site facing the polynya of the Ross Sea.
Michael Sigl, Matthew Toohey, Joseph R. McConnell, Jihong Cole-Dai, and Mirko Severi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3167–3196, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3167-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3167-2022, 2022
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Volcanism is a key driver of climate. Based on ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, we reconstruct its climate impact potential over the Holocene. By aligning records on a well-dated chronology from Antarctica, we resolve long-standing inconsistencies in the dating of past volcanic eruptions. We reconstruct 850 eruptions (which, in total, injected 7410 Tg of sulfur in the stratosphere) and estimate how they changed the opacity of the atmosphere, a prerequisite for climate model simulations.
Markus Stoffel, Christophe Corona, Francis Ludlow, Michael Sigl, Heli Huhtamaa, Emmanuel Garnier, Samuli Helama, Sébastien Guillet, Arlene Crampsie, Katrin Kleemann, Chantal Camenisch, Joseph McConnell, and Chaochao Gao
Clim. Past, 18, 1083–1108, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1083-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1083-2022, 2022
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The mid-17th century saw several volcanic eruptions, deteriorating climate, political instability, and famine in Europe, China, and Japan. We analyze impacts of the eruptions on climate but also study their socio-political context. We show that an unambiguous distinction of volcanic cooling or wetting from natural climate variability is not straightforward. It also shows that political instability, poor harvest, and famine cannot only be attributed to volcanic climatic impacts.
Gill Plunkett, Michael Sigl, Hans F. Schwaiger, Emma L. Tomlinson, Matthew Toohey, Joseph R. McConnell, Jonathan R. Pilcher, Takeshi Hasegawa, and Claus Siebe
Clim. Past, 18, 45–65, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-45-2022, 2022
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We report the identification of volcanic ash associated with a sulfate layer in Greenland ice cores previously thought to have been from the Vesuvius 79 CE eruption and which had been used to confirm the precise dating of the Greenland ice-core chronology. We find that the tephra was probably produced by an eruption in Alaska. We show the importance of verifying sources of volcanic signals in ice cores through ash analysis to avoid errors in dating ice cores and interpreting volcanic impacts.
Merve Polat, Jesper Baldtzer Liisberg, Morten Krogsbøll, Thomas Blunier, and Matthew S. Johnson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 8041–8067, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-8041-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-8041-2021, 2021
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We have designed a process for removing methane from a gas stream so that nitrous oxide can be measured without interference. These are both key long-lived greenhouse gases frequently studied in relation to ice cores, plants, water treatment and so on. However, many researchers are not aware of the problem of methane interference, and in addition there have not been good methods available for solving the problem. Here we present and evaluate such a method.
Sarah Shackleton, James A. Menking, Edward Brook, Christo Buizert, Michael N. Dyonisius, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Daniel Baggenstos, and Jeffrey P. Severinghaus
Clim. Past, 17, 2273–2289, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2273-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2273-2021, 2021
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In this study, we measure atmospheric noble gases trapped in ice cores to reconstruct ocean temperature during the last glaciation. Comparing the new reconstruction to other climate records, we show that the ocean reached its coldest temperatures before ice sheets reached maximum volumes and atmospheric CO2 reached its lowest concentrations. Ocean cooling played a major role in lowering atmospheric CO2 early in the glaciation, but it only played a minor role later.
Yuzhen Yan, Nicole E. Spaulding, Michael L. Bender, Edward J. Brook, John A. Higgins, Andrei V. Kurbatov, and Paul A. Mayewski
Clim. Past, 17, 1841–1855, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1841-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1841-2021, 2021
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Here we reconstruct the rate of snow accumulation during the Last Interglacial period in an East Antarctic ice core located near the present-day northern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. We find an order-of-magnitude increase in the accumulation rate during the peak warming in the Last Interglacial. This large increase in mass accumulation is compatible with less ice cover in the Ross Sea, perhaps created by a partly collapsed West Antarctic Ice Sheet, whose stability in a warming world is uncertain.
Loïc Schmidely, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Jochen Schmitt, Juhyeong Han, Lucas Silva, Jinwha Shin, Fortunat Joos, Jérôme Chappellaz, Hubertus Fischer, and Thomas F. Stocker
Clim. Past, 17, 1627–1643, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1627-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1627-2021, 2021
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Using ancient gas trapped in polar glaciers, we reconstructed the atmospheric concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide over the penultimate deglaciation to study their response to major climate changes. We show this deglaciation to be characterized by modes of methane and nitrous oxide variability that are also found during the last deglaciation and glacial cycle.
Kévin Fourteau, Florent Domine, and Pascal Hagenmuller
The Cryosphere, 15, 2739–2755, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2739-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2739-2021, 2021
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The thermal conductivity of snow is an important physical property governing the thermal regime of a snowpack and its substrate. We show that it strongly depends on the kinetics of water vapor sublimation and that previous experimental data suggest a rather fast kinetics. In such a case, neglecting water vapor leads to an underestimation of thermal conductivity by up to 50 % for light snow. Moreover, the diffusivity of water vapor in snow is then directly related to the thermal conductivity.
Vasilii V. Petrenko, Andrew M. Smith, Edward M. Crosier, Roxana Kazemi, Philip Place, Aidan Colton, Bin Yang, Quan Hua, and Lee T. Murray
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2055–2063, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2055-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2055-2021, 2021
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This paper presents an improved methodology for measurements of atmospheric concentration of carbon-14-containing carbon monoxide (14CO), as well as a 1-year dataset that demonstrates the methodology. Atmospheric 14CO concentration measurements are useful for improving the understanding of spatial and temporal variability of hydroxyl radical concentrations. Key improvements over prior methods include a greatly reduced air sample size and accurate procedural blank characterization.
Peter M. Abbott, Gill Plunkett, Christophe Corona, Nathan J. Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, John R. Pilcher, Markus Stoffel, and Michael Sigl
Clim. Past, 17, 565–585, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-565-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-565-2021, 2021
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Volcanic eruptions are a key source of climatic variability, and greater understanding of their past influence will increase the accuracy of future projections. We use volcanic ash from a 1477 CE Icelandic eruption in a Greenlandic ice core as a temporal fix point to constrain the timing of two eruptions in the 1450s CE and their climatic impact. Despite being the most explosive Icelandic eruption in the last 1200 years, the 1477 CE event had a limited impact on Northern Hemisphere climate.
Andreas Plach, Bo M. Vinther, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Sindhu Vudayagiri, and Thomas Blunier
Clim. Past, 17, 317–330, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021, 2021
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In light of recent large-scale melting of the Greenland ice sheet
(GrIS), e.g., in the summer of 2012 several days with surface melt
on the entire ice sheet (including elevations above 3000 m), we use
computer simulations to estimate the amount of melt during a
warmer-than-present period of the past. Our simulations show more
extensive melt than today. This is important for the interpretation of
ice cores which are used to reconstruct the evolution of the ice sheet
and the climate.
Kévin Fourteau, Florent Domine, and Pascal Hagenmuller
The Cryosphere, 15, 389–406, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-389-2021, 2021
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There has been a long controversy to determine whether the effective diffusion coefficient of water vapor in snow is superior to that in free air. Using theory and numerical modeling, we show that while water vapor diffuses more than inert gases thanks to its interaction with the ice, the effective diffusion coefficient of water vapor in snow remains inferior to that in free air. This suggests that other transport mechanisms are responsible for the large vapor fluxes observed in some snowpacks.
Jenna A. Epifanio, Edward J. Brook, Christo Buizert, Jon S. Edwards, Todd A. Sowers, Emma C. Kahle, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Eric J. Steig, Dominic A. Winski, Erich C. Osterberg, Tyler J. Fudge, Murat Aydin, Ekaterina Hood, Michael Kalk, Karl J. Kreutz, David G. Ferris, and Joshua A. Kennedy
Clim. Past, 16, 2431–2444, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2431-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2431-2020, 2020
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A new ice core drilled at the South Pole provides a 54 000-year paleo-environmental record including the composition of the past atmosphere. This paper describes the gas chronology for the South Pole ice core, based on a high-resolution methane record. The new gas chronology, in combination with the existing ice age scale from Winski et al. (2019), allows a model-independent reconstruction of the delta age record.
Jinhwa Shin, Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles, Roberto Grilli, Jai Chowdhry Beeman, Frédéric Parrenin, Grégory Teste, Amaelle Landais, Loïc Schmidely, Lucas Silva, Jochen Schmitt, Bernhard Bereiter, Thomas F. Stocker, Hubertus Fischer, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 16, 2203–2219, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2203-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2203-2020, 2020
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We reconstruct atmospheric CO2 from the EPICA Dome C ice core during Marine Isotope Stage 6 (185–135 ka) to understand carbon mechanisms under the different boundary conditions of the climate system. The amplitude of CO2 is highly determined by the Northern Hemisphere stadial duration. Carbon dioxide maxima show different lags with respect to the corresponding abrupt CH4 jumps, the latter reflecting rapid warming in the Northern Hemisphere.
James W. Kirchner, Sarah E. Godsey, Madeline Solomon, Randall Osterhuber, Joseph R. McConnell, and Daniele Penna
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5095–5123, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5095-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5095-2020, 2020
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Streams and groundwaters often show daily cycles in response to snowmelt and evapotranspiration. These typically have a roughly 6 h time lag, which is often interpreted as a travel-time lag. Here we show that it is instead primarily a phase lag that arises because aquifers integrate their inputs over time. We further show how these cycles shift seasonally, mirroring the springtime retreat of snow cover to higher elevations and the seasonal advance and retreat of photosynthetic activity.
James E. Lee, Edward J. Brook, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Christo Buizert, Troy Baisden, Thomas Blunier, V. Gabriela Ciobanu, Howard Conway, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Tyler J. Fudge, Richard Hindmarsh, Elizabeth D. Keller, Frédéric Parrenin, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Paul Vallelonga, Edwin D. Waddington, and Mai Winstrup
Clim. Past, 16, 1691–1713, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1691-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1691-2020, 2020
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The Roosevelt Island ice core was drilled to investigate climate from the eastern Ross Sea, West Antarctica. We describe the ice age-scale and gas age-scale of the ice core for 0–763 m (83 000 years BP). Old ice near the bottom of the core implies the ice dome existed throughout the last glacial period and that ice streaming was active in the region. Variations in methane, similar to those used as evidence of early human influence on climate, were observed prior to significant human populations.
Anders Svensson, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Jørgen Peder Steffensen, Thomas Blunier, Sune O. Rasmussen, Bo M. Vinther, Paul Vallelonga, Emilie Capron, Vasileios Gkinis, Eliza Cook, Helle Astrid Kjær, Raimund Muscheler, Sepp Kipfstuhl, Frank Wilhelms, Thomas F. Stocker, Hubertus Fischer, Florian Adolphi, Tobias Erhardt, Michael Sigl, Amaelle Landais, Frédéric Parrenin, Christo Buizert, Joseph R. McConnell, Mirko Severi, Robert Mulvaney, and Matthias Bigler
Clim. Past, 16, 1565–1580, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1565-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1565-2020, 2020
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We identify signatures of large bipolar volcanic eruptions in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores during the last glacial period, which allows for a precise temporal alignment of the ice cores. Thereby the exact timing of unexplained, abrupt climatic changes occurring during the last glacial period can be determined in a global context. The study thus provides a step towards a full understanding of elements of the climate system that may also play an important role in the future.
Stephen J. Harris, Jesper Liisberg, Longlong Xia, Jing Wei, Kerstin Zeyer, Longfei Yu, Matti Barthel, Benjamin Wolf, Bryce F. J. Kelly, Dioni I. Cendón, Thomas Blunier, Johan Six, and Joachim Mohn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2797–2831, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2797-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2797-2020, 2020
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The latest commercial laser spectrometers have the potential to revolutionize N2O isotope analysis. However, to do so, they must be able to produce trustworthy data. Here, we test the performance of widely used laser spectrometers for ambient air applications and identify instrument-specific dependencies on gas matrix and trace gas concentrations. We then provide a calibration workflow to facilitate the operation of these instruments in order to generate reproducible and accurate data.
Kévin Fourteau, Laurent Arnaud, Xavier Faïn, Patricia Martinerie, David M. Etheridge, Vladimir Lipenkov, and Jean-Marc Barnola
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1171–1177, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1171-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1171-2020, 2020
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Measurements of the porosity of three polar firns were conducted in the 1990s by Jean-Marc Barnola using the method of gas pycnometry. From these data, a parametrization of firn pore closure was produced and used in different published articles. However, the data have not been published in their own right yet. We have made the data publicly accessible on the PANGAEA database and here propose describing how they were obtained and used to produce the pore closure parametrization.
Roberto Grilli, François Darchambeau, Jérôme Chappellaz, Ange Mugisha, Jack Triest, and Augusta Umutoni
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 141–151, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-141-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-141-2020, 2020
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We report the results from the deployment of a newly developed in situ sensor for dissolved gas measurements. Its adaptation to high gas concentrations and dissolved gas pressures was proven. The campaign leads to a first continuous profile of methane on the first 150 m and allowed us to compare the data with previous measurements. The fast response of the instrument makes this technique a good candidate for regular monitoring of those type of lakes, for anticipating disastrous gas eruptions.
Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Xavier Faïn, Alexey A. Ekaykin, Jérôme Chappellaz, and Vladimir Lipenkov
Clim. Past, 16, 503–522, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-503-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-503-2020, 2020
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We quantify how the greenhouse gas records of East Antarctic ice cores (which are the oldest ice cores) might differ from the actual atmosphere history. It is required to properly interpret ice core data. For this, we measured the methane of five new East Antarctic ice core sections using a high-resolution technique. We found that in these very old ice cores, one can retrieve concentration variations occurring in only a few centuries, allowing climatologists to study climate's fast dynamics.
Kirstin Hoffmann, Francisco Fernandoy, Hanno Meyer, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Marcelo Aliaga, Dieter Tetzner, Johannes Freitag, Thomas Opel, Jorge Arigony-Neto, Christian Florian Göbel, Ricardo Jaña, Delia Rodríguez Oroz, Rebecca Tuckwell, Emily Ludlow, Joseph R. McConnell, and Christoph Schneider
The Cryosphere, 14, 881–904, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-881-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-881-2020, 2020
Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Xavier Faïn, Christoph F. Schaller, Rebecca J. Tuckwell, Henning Löwe, Laurent Arnaud, Olivier Magand, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Johannes Freitag, Robert Mulvaney, Martin Schneebeli, and Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov
The Cryosphere, 13, 3383–3403, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019, 2019
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Understanding gas trapping in polar ice is essential to study the relationship between greenhouse gases and past climates. New data of bubble closure, used in a simple gas-trapping model, show inconsistency with the final air content in ice. This suggests gas trapping is not fully understood. We also use a combination of high-resolution measurements to investigate the effect of polar snow stratification on gas trapping and find that all strata have similar pores, but that some close in advance.
Susanne Preunkert, Michel Legrand, Stanislav Kutuzov, Patrick Ginot, Vladimir Mikhalenko, and Ronny Friedrich
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14119–14132, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14119-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14119-2019, 2019
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This paper reports on an ice core drilled to bedrock at Mt Elbrus (5115 m a.s.l., Russia) to reconstruct the atmospheric pollution since the 19th century in south-eastern Europe. The annual dust-free sulfate record indicates a 7-fold increase from prior to 1900 to 1980–1995. Consistent with past SO2 emission inventories, a much earlier onset and a more pronounced decrease in the sulfur pollution over the last 3 decades are observed in western Europe than in south-eastern and eastern Europe.
Stanislav Kutuzov, Michel Legrand, Susanne Preunkert, Patrick Ginot, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Karim Shukurov, Aleksei Poliukhov, and Pavel Toropov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14133–14148, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14133-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14133-2019, 2019
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Ice cores are one of the most valuable paleo-archives. Here we present analysis of the concentrations of calcium, recorded in ice core from the Caucasus over the past 240 years. We found a correlation between dust in ice and precipitation and soil moisture content in the Middle East and North Africa. The prominent increase in dust concentration in the ice core confirms that the recent droughts in the Fertile Crescent were most severe at least for the past two centuries.
Hubertus Fischer, Jochen Schmitt, Michael Bock, Barbara Seth, Fortunat Joos, Renato Spahni, Sebastian Lienert, Gianna Battaglia, Benjamin D. Stocker, Adrian Schilt, and Edward J. Brook
Biogeosciences, 16, 3997–4021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3997-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3997-2019, 2019
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N2O concentrations were subject to strong variations accompanying glacial–interglacial but also rapid climate changes over the last 21 kyr. The sources of these N2O changes can be identified by measuring the isotopic composition of N2O in ice cores and using the distinct isotopic composition of terrestrial and marine N2O. We show that both marine and terrestrial sources increased from the last glacial to the Holocene but that only terrestrial emissions responded quickly to rapid climate changes.
Dominic A. Winski, Tyler J. Fudge, David G. Ferris, Erich C. Osterberg, John M. Fegyveresi, Jihong Cole-Dai, Zayta Thundercloud, Thomas S. Cox, Karl J. Kreutz, Nikolas Ortman, Christo Buizert, Jenna Epifanio, Edward J. Brook, Ross Beaudette, Jeffrey Severinghaus, Todd Sowers, Eric J. Steig, Emma C. Kahle, Tyler R. Jones, Valerie Morris, Murat Aydin, Melinda R. Nicewonger, Kimberly A. Casey, Richard B. Alley, Edwin D. Waddington, Nels A. Iverson, Nelia W. Dunbar, Ryan C. Bay, Joseph M. Souney, Michael Sigl, and Joseph R. McConnell
Clim. Past, 15, 1793–1808, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1793-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1793-2019, 2019
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A deep ice core was recently drilled at the South Pole to understand past variations in the Earth's climate. To understand the information contained within the ice, we present the relationship between the depth and age of the ice in the South Pole Ice Core. We found that the oldest ice in our record is from 54 302 ± 519 years ago. Our results show that, on average, 7.4 cm of snow falls at the South Pole each year.
Jens Mühle, Cathy M. Trudinger, Luke M. Western, Matthew Rigby, Martin K. Vollmer, Sunyoung Park, Alistair J. Manning, Daniel Say, Anita Ganesan, L. Paul Steele, Diane J. Ivy, Tim Arnold, Shanlan Li, Andreas Stohl, Christina M. Harth, Peter K. Salameh, Archie McCulloch, Simon O'Doherty, Mi-Kyung Park, Chun Ok Jo, Dickon Young, Kieran M. Stanley, Paul B. Krummel, Blagoj Mitrevski, Ove Hermansen, Chris Lunder, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Bo Yao, Jooil Kim, Benjamin Hmiel, Christo Buizert, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Jgor Arduini, Michela Maione, David M. Etheridge, Eleni Michalopoulou, Mike Czerniak, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Stefan Reimann, Peter G. Simmonds, Paul J. Fraser, Ronald G. Prinn, and Ray F. Weiss
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10335–10359, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10335-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10335-2019, 2019
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We discuss atmospheric concentrations and emissions of the strong greenhouse gas perfluorocyclobutane. A large fraction of recent emissions stem from China, India, and Russia, probably as a by-product from the production of fluoropolymers and fluorochemicals. Most historic emissions likely stem from developed countries. Total emissions are higher than what is being reported. Clearly, more measurements and better reporting are needed to understand emissions of this and other greenhouse gases.
Pär Jansson, Jack Triest, Roberto Grilli, Bénédicte Ferré, Anna Silyakova, Jürgen Mienert, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Ocean Sci., 15, 1055–1069, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-1055-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-1055-2019, 2019
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Methane seepage from the seafloor west of Svalbard was investigated with a fast-response membrane inlet laser spectrometer. The acquired data were in good agreement with traditional sparse discrete water sampling, subsequent gas chromatography, and with a new 2-D model based on echo-sounder data. However, the acquired high-resolution data revealed unprecedented details of the methane distribution, which highlights the need for high-resolution measurements for future climate studies.
James A. Menking, Edward J. Brook, Sarah A. Shackleton, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Michael N. Dyonisius, Vasilii Petrenko, Joseph R. McConnell, Rachael H. Rhodes, Thomas K. Bauska, Daniel Baggenstos, Shaun Marcott, and Stephen Barker
Clim. Past, 15, 1537–1556, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1537-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1537-2019, 2019
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An ice core from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, spans a period ~ 70 000 years ago when Earth entered the last ice age. Chemical analyses of the ice and air bubbles allow for an independent determination of the ages of the ice and gas bubbles. The difference between the age of the ice and the bubbles at any given depth, called ∆age, is unusually high in the Taylor Glacier core compared to the Taylor Dome ice core situated to the south. This implies a dramatic accumulation gradient between the sites.
Isaac J. Vimont, Jocelyn C. Turnbull, Vasilii V. Petrenko, Philip F. Place, Colm Sweeney, Natasha Miles, Scott Richardson, Bruce H. Vaughn, and James W. C. White
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8547–8562, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8547-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8547-2019, 2019
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Stable isotopes of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and radiocarbon carbon dioxide were measured over three summers at Indianapolis, Indiana, US, and for 1 year at a site thought to be strongly influenced by CO from oxidized volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in South Carolina, US. The Indianapolis results were used to provide an estimate of the carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures of CO produced from oxidized VOCs. This updated estimate agrees well with the data from South Carolina during the summer.
Xin Yang, Markus M. Frey, Rachael H. Rhodes, Sarah J. Norris, Ian M. Brooks, Philip S. Anderson, Kouichi Nishimura, Anna E. Jones, and Eric W. Wolff
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8407–8424, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8407-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8407-2019, 2019
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This is a comprehensive model–data comparison aiming to evaluate the proposed mechanism of sea salt aerosol (SSA) production from blowing snow on sea ice. Some key parameters such as snow salinity and blowing-snow size distribution were constrained by data collected in the Weddell Sea. The good agreement between modelled SSA and the cruise data strongly indicates that sea ice surface is a large SSA source in polar regions, a process which has not been considered in current climate models.
Loic Lechevallier, Roberto Grilli, Erik Kerstel, Daniele Romanini, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3101–3109, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3101-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3101-2019, 2019
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In this work we describe a highly sensitive optical spectrometer for simultaneous measurement of methane, ethane, and the isotopic composition of methane. The coupling of the spectrometer with a dissolved gas extraction system will provide a suitable tool for understanding the origins of the dissolved hydrocarbons and discriminate between the different sources (e.g., biogenic vs. thermogenic).
Jai Chowdhry Beeman, Léa Gest, Frédéric Parrenin, Dominique Raynaud, Tyler J. Fudge, Christo Buizert, and Edward J. Brook
Clim. Past, 15, 913–926, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-913-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-913-2019, 2019
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Atmospheric CO2 was likely an important amplifier of global-scale orbitally-driven warming during the last deglaciation. However, the mechanisms responsible for the rise in CO2, and the coherent rise in Antarctic isotopic temperature records, are under debate. Using a stochastic method, we detect variable lags between coherent changes in Antarctic temperature and CO2. This implies that the climate mechanisms linking the two records changed or experienced modulations during the deglaciation.
Sentia Goursaud, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Vincent Favier, Suzanne Preunkert, Michel Legrand, Bénédicte Minster, and Martin Werner
The Cryosphere, 13, 1297–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1297-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1297-2019, 2019
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We report new water stable isotope records from the first highly resolved firn core drilled in Adélie Land and covering 1998–2014. Using an updated database, we show that mean values are in line with the range of coastal values. Statistical analyses show no relationship between our record and local surface air temperature. Atmospheric back trajectories and isotopic simulations suggest that water stable isotopes in Adélie provide a fingerprint of the variability of atmospheric dynamics.
Mai Winstrup, Paul Vallelonga, Helle A. Kjær, Tyler J. Fudge, James E. Lee, Marie H. Riis, Ross Edwards, Nancy A. N. Bertler, Thomas Blunier, Ed J. Brook, Christo Buizert, Gabriela Ciobanu, Howard Conway, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Aja Ellis, B. Daniel Emanuelsson, Richard C. A. Hindmarsh, Elizabeth D. Keller, Andrei V. Kurbatov, Paul A. Mayewski, Peter D. Neff, Rebecca L. Pyne, Marius F. Simonsen, Anders Svensson, Andrea Tuohy, Edwin D. Waddington, and Sarah Wheatley
Clim. Past, 15, 751–779, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-751-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-751-2019, 2019
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We present a 2700-year timescale and snow accumulation history for an ice core from Roosevelt Island, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. We observe a long-term slightly decreasing trend in accumulation during most of the period but a rapid decline since the mid-1960s. The latter is linked to a recent strengthening of the Amundsen Sea Low and the expansion of regional sea ice. The year 1965 CE may thus mark the onset of significant increases in sea-ice extent in the eastern Ross Sea.
Fabien Maussion, Anton Butenko, Nicolas Champollion, Matthias Dusch, Julia Eis, Kévin Fourteau, Philipp Gregor, Alexander H. Jarosch, Johannes Landmann, Felix Oesterle, Beatriz Recinos, Timo Rothenpieler, Anouk Vlug, Christian T. Wild, and Ben Marzeion
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 909–931, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-909-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-909-2019, 2019
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Mountain glaciers are one of the few remaining subsystems of the global climate system for which no globally applicable community-driven model exists. Here we present the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM; www.oggm.org), developed to provide a modular and open-source numerical model framework for simulating past and future change of any glacier in the world.
Jonas Beck, Michael Bock, Jochen Schmitt, Barbara Seth, Thomas Blunier, and Hubertus Fischer
Biogeosciences, 15, 7155–7175, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7155-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7155-2018, 2018
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Ice core concentration and stable isotope measurements of atmospheric CH4 give valuable insights into the CH4 cycle of the past. New carbon and hydrogen stable isotope CH4 data measured on ice from both Greenland and Antarctica over the Holocene allow us to draw conclusions on the methane emission processes. In particular, our results cast doubt on a hypothesis proposing early human land use to be responsible for the atmospheric methane concentration increase in the second half of the Holocene.
Mackenzie M. Grieman, Murat Aydin, Joseph R. McConnell, and Eric S. Saltzman
Clim. Past, 14, 1625–1637, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1625-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1625-2018, 2018
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Vanillic acid is reported in the Tunu ice core from northeastern Greenland. It is an aerosol-borne acid produced by biomass burning. North American boreal forests are likely the source regions of the vanillic acid deposited at the ice core site. Vanillic acid levels were elevated during warm climate periods and lower during cooler climate periods. There is a positive correlation between the vanillic acid ice core record and ammonium and black carbon in the NEEM ice core from northern Greenland.
Amaëlle Landais, Emilie Capron, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Samuel Toucanne, Rachael Rhodes, Trevor Popp, Bo Vinther, Bénédicte Minster, and Frédéric Prié
Clim. Past, 14, 1405–1415, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1405-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1405-2018, 2018
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During the last glacial–interglacial climate transition (120 000 to 10 000 years before present), Greenland climate and midlatitude North Atlantic climate and water cycle vary in phase over the succession of millennial events. We identify here one notable exception to this behavior with a decoupling unambiguously identified through a combination of water isotopic tracers measured in a Greenland ice core. The midlatitude moisture source becomes warmer and wetter at 16 200 years before present.
Katrina M. Macdonald, Sangeeta Sharma, Desiree Toom, Alina Chivulescu, Andrew Platt, Mike Elsasser, Lin Huang, Richard Leaitch, Nathan Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Ying Duan Lei, Cheol-Heon Jeong, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, and Greg J. Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3485–3503, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3485-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3485-2018, 2018
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The sources of key contaminants in Arctic snow may be an important factor in understanding the rapid climate changes observed in the Arctic. Fresh snow samples collected frequently through the winter season were analyzed for major constituents. Temporally refined source apportionment via positive matrix factorization in conjunction with FLEXPART suggested potential source characteristics and locations. The identity of these sources and their relative contribution to key analytes is discussed.
Taku Umezawa, Carl A. M. Brenninkmeijer, Thomas Röckmann, Carina van der Veen, Stanley C. Tyler, Ryo Fujita, Shinji Morimoto, Shuji Aoki, Todd Sowers, Jochen Schmitt, Michael Bock, Jonas Beck, Hubertus Fischer, Sylvia E. Michel, Bruce H. Vaughn, John B. Miller, James W. C. White, Gordon Brailsford, Hinrich Schaefer, Peter Sperlich, Willi A. Brand, Michael Rothe, Thomas Blunier, David Lowry, Rebecca E. Fisher, Euan G. Nisbet, Andrew L. Rice, Peter Bergamaschi, Cordelia Veidt, and Ingeborg Levin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1207–1231, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1207-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1207-2018, 2018
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Isotope measurements are useful for separating different methane sources. However, the lack of widely accepted standards and calibration methods for stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic ratios of methane in air has caused significant measurement offsets among laboratories. We conducted worldwide interlaboratory comparisons, surveyed the literature and assessed them systematically. This study may be of help in future attempts to harmonize data sets of isotopic composition of atmospheric methane.
Nancy A. N. Bertler, Howard Conway, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Daniel B. Emanuelsson, Mai Winstrup, Paul T. Vallelonga, James E. Lee, Ed J. Brook, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Taylor J. Fudge, Elizabeth D. Keller, W. Troy Baisden, Richard C. A. Hindmarsh, Peter D. Neff, Thomas Blunier, Ross Edwards, Paul A. Mayewski, Sepp Kipfstuhl, Christo Buizert, Silvia Canessa, Ruzica Dadic, Helle A. Kjær, Andrei Kurbatov, Dongqi Zhang, Edwin D. Waddington, Giovanni Baccolo, Thomas Beers, Hannah J. Brightley, Lionel Carter, David Clemens-Sewall, Viorela G. Ciobanu, Barbara Delmonte, Lukas Eling, Aja Ellis, Shruthi Ganesh, Nicholas R. Golledge, Skylar Haines, Michael Handley, Robert L. Hawley, Chad M. Hogan, Katelyn M. Johnson, Elena Korotkikh, Daniel P. Lowry, Darcy Mandeno, Robert M. McKay, James A. Menking, Timothy R. Naish, Caroline Noerling, Agathe Ollive, Anaïs Orsi, Bernadette C. Proemse, Alexander R. Pyne, Rebecca L. Pyne, James Renwick, Reed P. Scherer, Stefanie Semper, Marius Simonsen, Sharon B. Sneed, Eric J. Steig, Andrea Tuohy, Abhijith Ulayottil Venugopal, Fernando Valero-Delgado, Janani Venkatesh, Feitang Wang, Shimeng Wang, Dominic A. Winski, V. Holly L. Winton, Arran Whiteford, Cunde Xiao, Jiao Yang, and Xin Zhang
Clim. Past, 14, 193–214, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-193-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-193-2018, 2018
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Temperature and snow accumulation records from the annually dated Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) ice core show that for the past 2 700 years, the eastern Ross Sea warmed, while the western Ross Sea showed no trend and West Antarctica cooled. From the 17th century onwards, this dipole relationship changed. Now all three regions show concurrent warming, with snow accumulation declining in West Antarctica and the eastern Ross Sea.
Rolf Weller, Michel Legrand, and Susanne Preunkert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2413–2430, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2413-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2413-2018, 2018
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We measured aerosol size distributions and the composition of summer aerosol at the continental Antarctic station Kohnen. Two different weather conditions mediated the transport of aerosol: (1) the intermittent impact of cyclones associated with outstanding marine aerosol concentrations and new particle formation and (2) steady long-range transport under prevailing clear sky conditions. The latter air masses were characterized by aged aerosol and less aerosol load.
Malte Winther, David Balslev-Harder, Søren Christensen, Anders Priemé, Bo Elberling, Eric Crosson, and Thomas Blunier
Biogeosciences, 15, 767–780, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-767-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-767-2018, 2018
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Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important and strong greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and part of climate. N2O is produced by microbes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The properties of each specific molecule can be used to determine the source. We implemented continuous measurements of N2O during incubation of denitrifying bacteria and believe that similar experiments will lead to a better understanding of N2O turnover and on the biotic mechanisms behind greenhouse gas exchange of the globe.
Kévin Fourteau, Xavier Faïn, Patricia Martinerie, Amaëlle Landais, Alexey A. Ekaykin, Vladimir Ya. Lipenkov, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 13, 1815–1830, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1815-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1815-2017, 2017
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We measured methane concentrations from a polar ice core to quantify the differences between the ice record and the past true atmospheric conditions. Two effects were investigated by combining data analysis and modeling: the stratification of polar snow before gas enclosure driving chronological hiatuses in the record and the gradual formation of bubbles in the ice attenuating fast atmospheric variations. This study will contribute to improving future climatic interpretations from ice archives.
Michel Legrand, Susanne Preunkert, Eric Wolff, Rolf Weller, Bruno Jourdain, and Dietmar Wagenbach
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14039–14054, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14039-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14039-2017, 2017
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Multiple year-round records of bulk and size-segregated composition of sea-salt aerosol and acidic gases (HCl and HNO3) were obtained at inland Antarctica. Both acidic sulfur particles and nitric acid are involved in the observed sea-salt dechlorination in spring/summer. The observed sulfate to sodium mass ratio of sea-salt aerosol in winter (0.16 ± 0.05) suggests on average a similar contribution of sea-ice and open-ocean emissions to the sea-salt load over inland Antarctica at that season.
Michel Legrand, Susanne Preunkert, Rolf Weller, Lars Zipf, Christoph Elsässer, Silke Merchel, Georg Rugel, and Dietmar Wagenbach
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14055–14073, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14055-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14055-2017, 2017
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Levels of MSA and sulfate at inland Antarctica are documented from multiple year-round records of bulk and size-segregated aerosol samplings. A striking difference in the seasonality of sulfur aerosol composition, characterized by a MSA to nssSO4 ratio reaching a minimum in summer over the Antarctic plateau (0.05) and a maximum at the coast (up to 0.40), is clearly established. An efficient chemical destruction of MSA is suggested to take place over the Antarctic plateau in summer.
Frédéric Parrenin, Marie G. P. Cavitte, Donald D. Blankenship, Jérôme Chappellaz, Hubertus Fischer, Olivier Gagliardini, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Olivier Passalacqua, Catherine Ritz, Jason Roberts, Martin J. Siegert, and Duncan A. Young
The Cryosphere, 11, 2427–2437, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2427-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2427-2017, 2017
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The oldest dated deep ice core drilled in Antarctica has been retrieved at EPICA Dome C (EDC), reaching ~ 800 000 years. Obtaining an older palaeoclimatic record from Antarctica is one of the greatest challenges of the ice core community. Here, we estimate the age of basal ice in the Dome C area. We find that old ice (> 1.5 Myr) likely exists in two regions a few tens of kilometres away from EDC:
Little Dome C Patchand
North Patch.
Ji-Woong Yang, Jinho Ahn, Edward J. Brook, and Yeongjun Ryu
Clim. Past, 13, 1227–1242, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1227-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1227-2017, 2017
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The early Holocene climate is characterized as an interglacial boundary condition without substantial human influence. Here we present a high-resolution CH4 record covering the early Holocene. The results show that abrupt cooling in Greenland and southward migration of ITCZ were able to induce an ~20 ppb CH4 decrease on a millennial timescale. The inter-polar difference exhibits a gradual increase during the early Holocene, implying the strengthening of northern extratropical emission.
Jason Roberts, Andrew Moy, Christopher Plummer, Tas van Ommen, Mark Curran, Tessa Vance, Samuel Poynter, Yaping Liu, Joel Pedro, Adam Treverrow, Carly Tozer, Lenneke Jong, Pippa Whitehouse, Laetitia Loulergue, Jerome Chappellaz, Vin Morgan, Renato Spahni, Adrian Schilt, Cecilia MacFarling Meure, David Etheridge, and Thomas Stocker
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2017-96, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2017-96, 2017
Preprint withdrawn
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Here we present a revised Law Dome, Dome Summit South (DSS) ice core age model (denoted LD2017) that significantly improves the chronology over the last 88 thousand years. An ensemble approach was used, allowing for the computation of both a median age and associated uncertainty as a function of depth. We use a non-linear interpolation between age ties and unlike previous studies, we made an independent estimate of the snow accumulation rate, where required, for the use of gas based age ties.
Rachael H. Rhodes, Xin Yang, Eric W. Wolff, Joseph R. McConnell, and Markus M. Frey
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9417–9433, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9417-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9417-2017, 2017
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Sea salt aerosol comes from the open ocean or the sea ice surface. In the polar regions, this opens up the possibility of reconstructing sea ice history using sea salt recorded in ice cores. We use a chemical transport model to demonstrate that the sea ice source of aerosol is important in the Arctic. For the first time, we simulate realistic Greenland ice core sea salt in a process-based model. The importance of the sea ice source increases from south to north across the Greenland ice sheet.
Daniel Baggenstos, Thomas K. Bauska, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, James E. Lee, Hinrich Schaefer, Christo Buizert, Edward J. Brook, Sarah Shackleton, and Vasilii V. Petrenko
Clim. Past, 13, 943–958, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-943-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-943-2017, 2017
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We present measurements of the gas composition in trapped air bubbles in ice samples taken from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica. We can show that ice from the entire last glacial cycle (125 000 years ago to the present) is exposed at the surface of this glacier and that the atmospheric record contained in the air bubbles is well preserved. Taylor Glacier therefore provides an easily accessible archive of ancient ice that allows for studies of trace components that require large ice volumes.
Léa Gest, Frédéric Parrenin, Jai Chowdhry Beeman, Dominique Raynaud, Tyler J. Fudge, Christo Buizert, and Edward J. Brook
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2017-71, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2017-71, 2017
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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In this manuscript, we place the atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature records onto a common age scale during the last deglaciation. Moreover, we evaluate the phase relationship between those two records in order to discuss possible climatic and carbon cycle scenarios. Indeed, this phase relationship is central to determine the role of the former in past (and therefore future) climatic variations. This scientific problem was even discussed by some policy makers (e.g., in the USA senate).
Juliana D'Andrilli, Christine M. Foreman, Michael Sigl, John C. Priscu, and Joseph R. McConnell
Clim. Past, 13, 533–544, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-533-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-533-2017, 2017
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Climate-driven trends in fluorescent organic matter (OM) markers from Antarctic ice cores revealed fluctuations over 21.0 kyr, reflecting environmental shifts as a result of global ecosystem response in a warming climate. Precursors of lignin-like fluorescent chemical species were detected as OM markers from the Last Glacial Maximum to the mid-Holocene. Holocene ice contained the most complex lignin-like fluorescent OM markers. Thus, ice cores contain paleoecological OM markers of Earth’s past.
Irène Ventrillard, Irène Xueref-Remy, Martina Schmidt, Camille Yver Kwok, Xavier Faïn, and Daniele Romanini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1803–1812, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1803-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1803-2017, 2017
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We present a comparison of CO measurements performed with a portable OF-CEAS laser spectrometer against a high-performance gas chromatograph. For both surface and airborne measurements, the instruments show an excellent agreement very close to the 2 ppb World Meteorological Organization recommendation for CO inter-laboratory comparison. This work establishes that this laser technique allows for the development of sensitive, compact, robust and reliable instruments for in situ trace-gas analysis.
Anna Kozachek, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Alexey Ekaykin, Patrick Ginot, Stanislav Kutuzov, Michel Legrand, Vladimir Lipenkov, and Susanne Preunkert
Clim. Past, 13, 473–489, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-473-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-473-2017, 2017
Katrina M. Macdonald, Sangeeta Sharma, Desiree Toom, Alina Chivulescu, Sarah Hanna, Allan K. Bertram, Andrew Platt, Mike Elsasser, Lin Huang, David Tarasick, Nathan Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Ying Duan Lei, Greg J. Evans, and Jonathan P. D. Abbatt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5775–5788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5775-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5775-2017, 2017
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Rapid climate changes within the Arctic have highlighted existing uncertainties in the transport of contaminants to Arctic snow. Fresh snow samples collected frequently through the winter season were analyzed for major constituents creating a unique record of Arctic snow. Comparison with simultaneous atmospheric measurements provides insight into the driving processes in the transfer of contaminants from air to snow. The relative importance of deposition mechanisms over the season is proposed.
Mackenzie M. Grieman, Murat Aydin, Diedrich Fritzsche, Joseph R. McConnell, Thomas Opel, Michael Sigl, and Eric S. Saltzman
Clim. Past, 13, 395–410, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-395-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-395-2017, 2017
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Wildfires impact ecosystems, climate, and atmospheric chemistry. Records that predate instrumental records and industrialization are needed to study the climatic controls on biomass burning. In this study, we analyzed organic chemicals produced from burning of plant matter that were preserved in an ice core from the Eurasian Arctic. These chemicals are elevated during three periods that have similar timing to climate variability. This is the first millennial-scale record of these chemicals.
Markella Prokopiou, Patricia Martinerie, Célia J. Sapart, Emmanuel Witrant, Guillaume Monteil, Kentaro Ishijima, Sophie Bernard, Jan Kaiser, Ingeborg Levin, Thomas Blunier, David Etheridge, Ed Dlugokencky, Roderik S. W. van de Wal, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4539–4564, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4539-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4539-2017, 2017
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Nitrous oxide is the third most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas with an increasing mole fraction. To understand its natural and anthropogenic sources
we employ isotope measurements. Results show that while the N2O mole fraction increases, its heavy isotope content decreases. The isotopic changes observed underline the dominance of agricultural emissions especially at the early part of the record, whereas in the later decades the contribution from other anthropogenic sources increases.
Sakiko Ishino, Shohei Hattori, Joel Savarino, Bruno Jourdain, Susanne Preunkert, Michel Legrand, Nicolas Caillon, Albane Barbero, Kota Kuribayashi, and Naohiro Yoshida
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3713–3727, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3713-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3713-2017, 2017
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We show the first simultaneous observations of triple oxygen isotopic compositions of atmospheric sulfate, nitrate, and ozone at Dumont d'Urville, coastal Antarctica. The contrasting seasonal trends between oxygen isotopes of ozone and those of sulfate and nitrate indicate that these signatures in sulfate and nitrate are mainly controlled by changes in oxidation chemistry. We also discuss the specific oxidation chemistry induced by the unique phenomena at the site.
Saehee Lim, Xavier Faïn, Patrick Ginot, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Stanislav Kutuzov, Jean-Daniel Paris, Anna Kozachek, and Paolo Laj
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3489–3505, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3489-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3489-2017, 2017
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A record of light-absorbing refractory black carbon (rBC), emitted by fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, was reconstructed from the ice cores drilled at a high-altitude eastern European site in Mt. Elbrus. This record reports for the first time the high-resolution rBC mass concentrations in the European outflows over the past 189 years. Our study suggests that the past changes in BC emissions of eastern Europe need to be considered in assessing ongoing air quality regulations.
Sentia Goursaud, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Vincent Favier, Susanne Preunkert, Michel Fily, Hubert Gallée, Bruno Jourdain, Michel Legrand, Olivier Magand, Bénédicte Minster, and Martin Werner
The Cryosphere, 11, 343–362, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-343-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-343-2017, 2017
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Uncertainty of sea level changes is a challenge. As Antarctica is the biggest water reservoir, it is necessary to know how it will contribute. To be able to simulate it, an understanding of past climate is to be achieved, for instance, by studying the ice cores. As climate change is different in different regions, observations are needed all over the continent. Studying an ice core in Adélie Land, we can conclude that there are no changes there at decadal scale over the period 1947–2007.
Olivia J. Maselli, Nathan J. Chellman, Mackenzie Grieman, Lawrence Layman, Joseph R. McConnell, Daniel Pasteris, Rachael H. Rhodes, Eric Saltzman, and Michael Sigl
Clim. Past, 13, 39–59, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-39-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-39-2017, 2017
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We analysed two Greenland ice cores for methanesulfonate (MSA) and bromine (Br) and concluded that both species are suitable proxies for local sea ice conditions. Interpretation of the records reveals that there have been sharp declines in sea ice in these areas in the past 250 years. However, at both sites the Br record deviates from MSA during the industrial period, raising questions about the value of Br as a sea ice proxy during recent periods of high, industrial, atmospheric acid pollution.
Michel Legrand, Joseph McConnell, Hubertus Fischer, Eric W. Wolff, Susanne Preunkert, Monica Arienzo, Nathan Chellman, Daiana Leuenberger, Olivia Maselli, Philip Place, Michael Sigl, Simon Schüpbach, and Mike Flannigan
Clim. Past, 12, 2033–2059, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2033-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2033-2016, 2016
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Here, we review previous attempts made to reconstruct past forest fire using chemical signals recorded in Greenland ice. We showed that the Greenland ice records of ammonium, found to be a good fire proxy, consistently indicate changing fire activity in Canada in response to past climatic conditions that occurred since the last 15 000 years, including the Little Ice Age and the last large climatic transition.
Cathy M. Trudinger, Paul J. Fraser, David M. Etheridge, William T. Sturges, Martin K. Vollmer, Matt Rigby, Patricia Martinerie, Jens Mühle, David R. Worton, Paul B. Krummel, L. Paul Steele, Benjamin R. Miller, Johannes Laube, Francis S. Mani, Peter J. Rayner, Christina M. Harth, Emmanuel Witrant, Thomas Blunier, Jakob Schwander, Simon O'Doherty, and Mark Battle
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11733–11754, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11733-2016, 2016
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Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are potent, long-lived and mostly man-made greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere mainly during aluminium production and semiconductor manufacture. Here we present the first continuous histories of three PFCs from 1800 to 2014, derived from measurements of these PFCs in the atmosphere and in air bubbles in polar ice. The records show how human actions have affected these important greenhouse gases over the past century.
Peter Sperlich, Nelly A. M. Uitslag, Jürgen M. Richter, Michael Rothe, Heike Geilmann, Carina van der Veen, Thomas Röckmann, Thomas Blunier, and Willi A. Brand
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3717–3737, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3717-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3717-2016, 2016
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Isotope measurements in atmospheric CH4 are performed since more than 3 decades. However, standard gases to harmonize global measurements are not available to this day. We designed two methods to calibrate a suite of 8 CH4 gases with a wide range in isotopic composition to the VPDB and VSMOW scales with high precision and accuracy. Synthetic air mixtures with ~2 ppm of calibrated CH4 can be provided to the community by the ISOLAB of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany.
Lora S. Koenig, Alvaro Ivanoff, Patrick M. Alexander, Joseph A. MacGregor, Xavier Fettweis, Ben Panzer, John D. Paden, Richard R. Forster, Indrani Das, Joesph R. McConnell, Marco Tedesco, Carl Leuschen, and Prasad Gogineni
The Cryosphere, 10, 1739–1752, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1739-2016, 2016
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Contemporary climate warming over the Arctic is accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet through increasing surface melt, emphasizing the need to closely monitor surface mass balance in order to improve sea-level rise predictions. Here, we quantify the net annual accumulation over the Greenland Ice Sheet, which comprises the largest component of surface mass balance, at a higher spatial resolution than currently available using high-resolution, airborne-radar data.
Theo Manuel Jenk, Mauro Rubino, David Etheridge, Viorela Gabriela Ciobanu, and Thomas Blunier
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3687–3706, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3687-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3687-2016, 2016
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Atmospheric CO2 and δ13C-CO2 records from polar ice cores provide important constraints on the natural carbon cycle variability. Still, data exist only from a limited number of sampling sites and time periods due to demanding analytical challenges. Additional analytical state-of-the-art resources are desirable. This study describes such a new facility. Its analytical performance and new approaches for dealing with procedural blank contribution and analytical outliers are discussed in detail.
Nathan J. Chellman, Meredith G. Hastings, and Joseph R. McConnell
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-163, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-163, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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This manuscript analyzes the changing sources of nitrate deposition to Greenland since 1760 CE using a dataset consisting of sub-seasonally resolved nitrogen isotopes of nitrate and source tracers. Correlations amongst ion concentration, source tracers, and the δ15N–NO3− provide evidence of the impact of biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion emissions of nitrogen oxides and suggest that oil combustion is the likely driver of increased nitrate concentration in Greenland ice since 1940 CE.
Hélène Angot, Iris Dion, Nicolas Vogel, Michel Legrand, Olivier Magand, and Aurélien Dommergue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8265–8279, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8265-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8265-2016, 2016
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This paper presents a multi-year record of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)) at Dumont d’Urville (DDU) on the East Antarctic coast. This record reveals particularities that are not seen at other coastal Antarctic sites, likely due to the more frequent arrival of inland air masses at DDU than at other coastal sites, and to the influence of oceanic air masses. This study confirms the influence of processes observed inland on the cycle of atmospheric mercury at a continental scale.
Michel Legrand, Susanne Preunkert, Joël Savarino, Markus M. Frey, Alexandre Kukui, Detlev Helmig, Bruno Jourdain, Anna E. Jones, Rolf Weller, Neil Brough, and Hubert Gallée
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8053–8069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8053-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8053-2016, 2016
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Surface ozone, the most abundant atmospheric oxidant, has been measured since 2004 at the coastal East Antarctic site of Dumont d’Urville, and since 2007 at the Concordia station located on the high East Antarctic plateau. Long-term changes, seasonal and diurnal cycles, as well as inter-annual summer variability observed at these two East Antarctic sites are discussed. Influences like sea ice extent and outflow from inland Antarctica are discussed.
Malte Winther, David Balslev-Harder, Søren Christensen, Anders Priemé, Bo Elberling, Eric Crosson, and Thomas Blunier
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2016-258, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2016-258, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important and strong greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and part of climate. N2O is produced by microbes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The properties of each specific molecule can be used to determine the source. We implemented continuous measurements of N2O during incubation of denitrifying bacteria and believe that similar experiments will lead to a better understanding of N2O turnover and on the biotic mechanisms behind greenhouse gas exchange of the Globe.
Rachael H. Rhodes, Xavier Faïn, Edward J. Brook, Joseph R. McConnell, Olivia J. Maselli, Michael Sigl, Jon Edwards, Christo Buizert, Thomas Blunier, Jérôme Chappellaz, and Johannes Freitag
Clim. Past, 12, 1061–1077, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1061-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1061-2016, 2016
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Local artifacts in ice core methane data are superimposed on consistent records of past atmospheric variability. These artifacts are not related to past atmospheric history and care should be taken to avoid interpreting them as such. By investigating five polar ice cores from sites with different conditions, we relate isolated methane spikes to melt layers and decimetre-scale variations as "trapping signal" associated with a difference in timing of air bubble closure in adjacent firn layers.
L. M. T. Joelsson, J. A. Schmidt, E. J. K. Nilsson, T. Blunier, D. W. T. Griffith, S. Ono, and M. S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4439–4449, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4439-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4439-2016, 2016
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We present experimental kinetic isotope effects (KIE) for the OH oxidation of CH3D and 13CH3D and their temperature dependence. Our determination of the 13CH3D + OH KIE is novel and we find no "clumped" isotope effect within the experimental uncertainty.
Michael Sigl, Tyler J. Fudge, Mai Winstrup, Jihong Cole-Dai, David Ferris, Joseph R. McConnell, Ken C. Taylor, Kees C. Welten, Thomas E. Woodruff, Florian Adolphi, Marion Bisiaux, Edward J. Brook, Christo Buizert, Marc W. Caffee, Nelia W. Dunbar, Ross Edwards, Lei Geng, Nels Iverson, Bess Koffman, Lawrence Layman, Olivia J. Maselli, Kenneth McGwire, Raimund Muscheler, Kunihiko Nishiizumi, Daniel R. Pasteris, Rachael H. Rhodes, and Todd A. Sowers
Clim. Past, 12, 769–786, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-769-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-769-2016, 2016
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Here we present a chronology (WD2014) for the upper part (0–2850 m; 31.2 ka BP) of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core, which is based on layer counting of distinctive annual cycles preserved in the elemental, chemical and electrical conductivity records. We validated the chronology by comparing it to independent high-accuracy, absolutely dated chronologies. Given its demonstrated high accuracy, WD2014 can become a reference chronology for the Southern Hemisphere.
Joël Savarino, William C. Vicars, Michel Legrand, Suzanne Preunkert, Bruno Jourdain, Markus M. Frey, Alexandre Kukui, Nicolas Caillon, and Jaime Gil Roca
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2659–2673, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2659-2016, 2016
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Atmospheric nitrate is collected on the East Antarctic ice sheet. Nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes and concentrations of nitrate are measured. Using a box model, we show that there is s systematic discrepancy between observations and model results. We suggest that this discrepancy probably results from unknown NOx chemistry above the Antarctic ice sheet. However, possible misconception in the stable isotope mass balance is not completely excluded.
N. Zannoni, V. Gros, M. Lanza, R. Sarda, B. Bonsang, C. Kalogridis, S. Preunkert, M. Legrand, C. Jambert, C. Boissard, and J. Lathiere
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1619–1636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1619-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1619-2016, 2016
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Our manuscript shows results of OH reactivity and Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) concentration during a field experiment conducted in late spring 2014 at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP) site. We found that OH reactivity is among the highest measured in forests globally (69 s−1) and it is mainly due to isoprene. No missing reactivity was present during daytime inside or above the canopy, while 50 % missing reactivity was found by night at both heights.
A. Spolaor, T. Opel, J. R. McConnell, O. J. Maselli, G. Spreen, C. Varin, T. Kirchgeorg, D. Fritzsche, A. Saiz-Lopez, and P. Vallelonga
The Cryosphere, 10, 245–256, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-245-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-245-2016, 2016
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The role of sea ice in the Earth climate system is still under debate, although it is known to influence albedo, ocean circulation, and atmosphere-ocean heat and gas exchange. Here we present a reconstruction of 1950 to 1998 AD sea ice in the Laptev Sea based on the Akademii Nauk ice core (Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic) and halogen measurements. The results suggest a connection between bromine and sea ice, as well as a connection between iodine concentration in snow and summer sea ice.
V. Mikhalenko, S. Sokratov, S. Kutuzov, P. Ginot, M. Legrand, S. Preunkert, I. Lavrentiev, A. Kozachek, A. Ekaykin, X. Faïn, S. Lim, U. Schotterer, V. Lipenkov, and P. Toropov
The Cryosphere, 9, 2253–2270, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2253-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2253-2015, 2015
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For the first time an ice core unaffected by melting was recovered from the western Elbrus plateau in the Caucasus. The preserved chemical and isotopic data are considered a source of paleo-climate information for southern/eastern Europe. Considerable snow accumulation (about 1500mm w.e.) and high sampling resolution allowed seasonal variability to be obtained in climate signals, covering a time period of about 200 years. Ice flow models suggest that the basal ice age can be more than 600 years.
C. Reutenauer, A. Landais, T. Blunier, C. Bréant, M. Kageyama, M.-N. Woillez, C. Risi, V. Mariotti, and P. Braconnot
Clim. Past, 11, 1527–1551, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1527-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1527-2015, 2015
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Isotopes of atmospheric O2 undergo millennial-scale variations during the last glacial period, and systematically increase during Heinrich stadials.
Such variations are mostly due to vegetation and water cycle processes.
Our modeling approach reproduces the main observed features of Heinrich stadials in terms of climate, vegetation and rainfall.
It highlights the strong role of hydrology on O2 isotopes, which can be seen as a global integrator of precipitation changes over vegetated areas.
P. Kuipers Munneke, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, B. P. Y. Noël, I. M. Howat, J. E. Box, E. Mosley-Thompson, J. R. McConnell, K. Steffen, J. T. Harper, S. B. Das, and M. R. van den Broeke
The Cryosphere, 9, 2009–2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2009-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-2009-2015, 2015
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The snow layer on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet is changing: it is thickening in the high and cold interior due to increased snowfall, while it is thinning around the margins. The marginal thinning is caused by compaction, and by more melt.
This knowledge is important: there are satellites that measure volume change of the ice sheet. It can be caused by increased ice discharge, or by compaction of the snow layer. Here, we quantify the latter, so that we can translate volume to mass change.
S. J. Allin, J. C. Laube, E. Witrant, J. Kaiser, E. McKenna, P. Dennis, R. Mulvaney, E. Capron, P. Martinerie, T. Röckmann, T. Blunier, J. Schwander, P. J. Fraser, R. L. Langenfelds, and W. T. Sturges
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6867–6877, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6867-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6867-2015, 2015
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Stratospheric ozone protects life on Earth from harmful UV-B radiation. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are man-made compounds which act to destroy this barrier.
This paper presents (1) the first measurements of the stratospheric δ(37Cl) of CFCs -11 and -113; (2) the first quantification of long-term trends in the tropospheric δ(37Cl) of CFCs -11, -12 and -113.
This study provides a better understanding of source and sink processes associated with these destructive compounds.
C. Buizert, K. M. Cuffey, J. P. Severinghaus, D. Baggenstos, T. J. Fudge, E. J. Steig, B. R. Markle, M. Winstrup, R. H. Rhodes, E. J. Brook, T. A. Sowers, G. D. Clow, H. Cheng, R. L. Edwards, M. Sigl, J. R. McConnell, and K. C. Taylor
Clim. Past, 11, 153–173, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-153-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-153-2015, 2015
M. Guillevic, L. Bazin, A. Landais, C. Stowasser, V. Masson-Delmotte, T. Blunier, F. Eynaud, S. Falourd, E. Michel, B. Minster, T. Popp, F. Prié, and B. M. Vinther
Clim. Past, 10, 2115–2133, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-2115-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-2115-2014, 2014
A. Kukui, M. Legrand, S. Preunkert, M. M. Frey, R. Loisil, J. Gil Roca, B. Jourdain, M. D. King, J. L. France, and G. Ancellet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12373–12392, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12373-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12373-2014, 2014
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Concentrations of OH radicals and the sum of peroxy radicals, RO2, were measured in the boundary layer for the first time on the East Antarctic Plateau at the Concordia Station during the austral summer 2011/2012. The concentrations of radicals were comparable to those observed at the South Pole, confirming that the elevated oxidative capacity of the Antarctic atmospheric boundary layer found at the South Pole is not restricted to the South Pole but common over the high Antarctic plateau.
T. K. Bauska, E. J. Brook, A. C. Mix, and A. Ross
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 3825–3837, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3825-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3825-2014, 2014
P. Zennaro, N. Kehrwald, J. R. McConnell, S. Schüpbach, O. J. Maselli, J. Marlon, P. Vallelonga, D. Leuenberger, R. Zangrando, A. Spolaor, M. Borrotti, E. Barbaro, A. Gambaro, and C. Barbante
Clim. Past, 10, 1905–1924, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1905-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1905-2014, 2014
S. Lim, X. Faïn, M. Zanatta, J. Cozic, J.-L. Jaffrezo, P. Ginot, and P. Laj
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Related subject area
Subject: Carbon Cycle | Archive: Ice Cores | Timescale: Holocene
Southern Hemisphere atmospheric history of carbon monoxide over the late Holocene reconstructed from multiple Antarctic ice archives
Millennial variations in atmospheric CO2 during the early Holocene (11.7–7.4 ka)
High resolution measurements of carbon monoxide along a late Holocene Greenland ice core: evidence for in situ production
What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates?
Xavier Faïn, David M. Etheridge, Kévin Fourteau, Patricia Martinerie, Cathy M. Trudinger, Rachael H. Rhodes, Nathan J. Chellman, Ray L. Langenfelds, Joseph R. McConnell, Mark A. J. Curran, Edward J. Brook, Thomas Blunier, Grégory Teste, Roberto Grilli, Anthony Lemoine, William T. Sturges, Boris Vannière, Johannes Freitag, and Jérôme Chappellaz
Clim. Past, 19, 2287–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2287-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We report on a 3000-year record of carbon monoxide (CO) levels in the Southern Hemisphere's high latitudes by combining ice core and firn air measurements with modern direct atmospheric samples. Antarctica [CO] remained stable (–835 to 1500 CE), decreased during the Little Ice Age, and peaked around 1985 CE. Such evolution reflects stable biomass burning CO emissions before industrialization, followed by growth from CO anthropogenic sources, which decline after 1985 due to improved combustion.
Jinhwa Shin, Jinho Ahn, Jai Chowdhry Beeman, Hun-Gyu Lee, Jaemyeong Mango Seo, and Edward J. Brook
Clim. Past, 18, 2063–2075, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2063-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new and highly resolved atmospheric CO2 record from the Siple Dome ice core, Antarctica, over the early Holocene (11.7–7.4 ka). Atmospheric CO2 decreased by ~10 ppm from 10.9 to 7.3 ka, but the decrease was punctuated by local minima at 11.1, 10.1, 9.1, and 8.3 ka. We found millennial CO2 variability of 2–6 ppm, and the millennial CO2 variations correlate with proxies for solar forcing and local climate in the Southern Ocean, North Atlantic, and eastern equatorial Pacific.
X. Faïn, J. Chappellaz, R. H. Rhodes, C. Stowasser, T. Blunier, J. R. McConnell, E. J. Brook, S. Preunkert, M. Legrand, T. Debois, and D. Romanini
Clim. Past, 10, 987–1000, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-987-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-987-2014, 2014
G. R. van der Werf, W. Peters, T. T. van Leeuwen, and L. Giglio
Clim. Past, 9, 289–306, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-289-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-289-2013, 2013
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Short summary
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a regulated pollutant and one of the key components determining the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere. In this study, we analyzed five ice cores from Greenland at high resolution for CO concentrations by coupling laser spectrometry with continuous melting. By combining these new datasets, we produced an upper-bound estimate of past atmospheric CO abundance since preindustrial times for the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes, covering the period from 1700 to 1957 CE.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a regulated pollutant and one of the key components determining the...
