Methane and nitrous oxide in the ice core record

2007 ◽  
Vol 365 (1856) ◽  
pp. 1775-1792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Wolff ◽  
Renato Spahni
Keyword(s):  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Atmospheric Gases ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Trapped Air ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Rule Out ◽  
The Last Glacial

Polar ice cores contain, in trapped air bubbles, an archive of the concentrations of stable atmospheric gases. Of the major non-CO 2 greenhouse gases, methane is measured quite routinely, while nitrous oxide is more challenging, with some artefacts occurring in the ice and so far limited interpretation. In the recent past, the ice cores provide the only direct measure of the changes that have occurred during the industrial period; they show that the current concentration of methane in the atmosphere is far outside the range experienced in the last 650 000 years; nitrous oxide is also elevated above its natural levels. There is controversy about whether changes in the pre-industrial Holocene are natural or anthropogenic in origin. Changes in wetland emissions are generally cited as the main cause of the large glacial–interglacial change in methane. However, changing sinks must also be considered, and the impact of possible newly described sources evaluated. Recent isotopic data appear to finally rule out any major impact of clathrate releases on methane at these time-scales. Any explanation must take into account that, at the rapid Dansgaard–Oeschger warmings of the last glacial period, methane rose by around half its glacial–interglacial range in only a few decades. The recent EPICA Dome C (Antarctica) record shows that methane tracked climate over the last 650 000 years, with lower methane concentrations in glacials than interglacials, and lower concentrations in cooler interglacials than in warmer ones. Nitrous oxide also shows Dansgaard–Oeschger and glacial–interglacial periodicity, but the pattern is less clear.

scholarly journals NALPS19: Sub-orbital scale climate variability recorded in Northern Alpine speleothems during the last glacial period

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina E. Moseley ◽  
Christoph Spötl ◽  
Susanne Brandstätter ◽  
Tobias Erhardt ◽  
Marc Luetscher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Change State ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. Sub-orbital-scale climate variability of the last glacial period provides important insights into the rates that the climate can change state, the mechanisms that drive that change, and the leads, lags and synchronicity occurring across different climate zones. Such short-term climate variability has previously been investigated using speleothems from the northern rim of the Alps (NALPS), enabling direct chronological comparisons with highly similar shifts in Greenland ice cores. In this study, we present NALPS19, which includes a revision of the last glacial NALPS δ18O chronology over the interval 118.3 to 63.7 ka using eleven,newly-available, clean, precisely-dated stalagmites from five caves. Using only the most reliable and precisely dated records, this period is now 90 % complete and is comprised of 15 stalagmites from seven caves. Where speleothems grew synchronously, major transitional events between stadials and interstadials (and vice versa) are all in agreement within uncertainty. Ramp-fitting analysis further reveals good agreement between the NALPS19 speleothem δ18O record, the GICC05modelext NGRIP ice-core δ18O record, and the Asian Monsoon composite speleothem δ18O record. In contrast, NGRIP ice-core δ18O on AICC2012 appears to be considerably too young. We also propose a longer duration for the interval covering Greenland Stadial (GS) 22 to GS-21.2 in line with the Asian monsoon and NGRIP-EDML. Given the near-complete record of δ18O variability during the last glacial period in the northern Alps, we offer preliminary considerations regarding the controls on mean δ18O. We find that as expected, δ18O values became increasingly more depleted with distance from the oceanic source regions, and increasingly depleted with increasing altitude. Exceptions were found for some high-elevation sites that locally display δ18O values that are too high in comparison to lower-elevation sites, thus indicating a summer bias in the recorded signal. Finally, we propose a new mechanism for the centennial-scale stadial-level depletions in δ18O such as "pre-cursor" events GS-16.2, GS-17.2, GS-21.2, and GS-23.2, as well as the "within-interstadial" GS-24.2 event. Our new high-precision chronology shows that each of these δ18O depletions occurred shortly following rapid rises in sea level associated with increased ice-rafted debris and southward shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, suggesting that influxes of meltwater from moderately-sized ice sheets may have been responsible for the cold reversals causing the AMOC to slow down similar to the Preboreal Oscillation and Older Dryas deglacial events.

scholarly journals An improved method for delta <sup>15</sup>N measurements in ice cores

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. S. Mani ◽  
P. Dennis ◽  
W. T. Sturges ◽  
R. Mulvaney ◽  
M. Leuenberger
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Gas ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Core Samples ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. The use of isotopic ratios of nitrogen gas (δ15N) trapped in ice cores as a paleothermometer to characterise abrupt climate changes is becoming a widespread technique. The versatility of the technique could be enhanced, for instance in quantifying small temperature changes during the last glacial period in Antarctic ice cores, by using high precision methods. In this paper, we outline a method for measuring δ15N to a precision of 0.006\\permil (1σ, n=9) from replicate ice core samples. The high precision results from removing oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour from the air extracted from ice cores. The advantage of the technique is that it does not involve correction for isobaric interference due to CO+ ions. We also highlight the importance of oxygen removal from the sample, and how it influences δ15N measurements. The results show that a small amount of oxygen in the sample can be detrimental to achieving an optimum precision in δ15N measurements of atmospheric nitrogen trapped ice core samples.

The ice core record of atmospheric CO2 variability during the Last Glacial Period: new insights from timing and isotopes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bauska ◽  
Shaun Marcott ◽  
Ed Brook
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ocean Temperature ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
The Last Glacial

&lt;p&gt;Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) concentrations during the last glacial period (70,000 &amp;#8211; 23,000 years ago) fluctuated on millennial timescales closely following variations in Antarctic temperature. This close coupling has suggested that the sources and sinks driving millennial scale CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; changes are dominated by processes in the Southern Ocean. However, recent work revealed centennial-scale increases in CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; during abrupt climate events of the last deglaciation which may represent a second mechanism of carbon cycle variability.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we analyze a high resolution CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; record from the last glacial period from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS Divide) that precisely defines the timing of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; changes with respect to Antarctic ice core proxies for temperature, dust delivery, and sea-ice extent down to the centennial-timescale. Although CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; closely tracks all these proxies over millennia, peak CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; levels most often lag behind all proxies by a few hundred years. This decoupling from Antarctic climate variability is most prominent during the onset of DO interstadial events when CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; and Greenland temperature all increase simultaneously. Regression analysis suggests that the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; variations can be explained by a combination of two mechanisms: one operating on the time scale of Antarctic climate variability, and a second responding on the Dansgaard-Oeschger time scale.&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Recent &amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C-CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; data from the last glacial period support our finding that CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; variability is the sum of multiple mechanisms.&amp;#160; The Antarctic climate variability is likely associated with the release of respired organic carbon from the deep ocean.&amp;#160; Superimposed on these oscillations are two types of centennial-scale changes: CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; increases and &amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C-CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; minima in the middle of Heinrich stadials and ii) CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; increases and small changes in &amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C-CO&lt;sub&gt;2 &lt;/sub&gt;that at the onset of DO interstadial event.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To provide a comprehensive and quantitative constraint on the mechanisms of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; variability during the last glacial period, we run a large suite of transient box model experiments (n = 500) forced with varying combinations of forcings based on proxy time-series (e.g. AABW formation, NADW formation, ocean temperature, dust delivery, and sea-ice extent).&amp;#160; Using data constraints from the ice core records of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, &amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C-CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; and mean ocean temperature, we arrive at an ensemble of scenarios that can explain a large amount of the centennial and millennial-scale variability observed in the ice core record. Parsing this into a series of factorial experiments we find that Southern Hemisphere processes can explain 80% of the observed variability and Northern Hemisphere processes account for the remaining 20%.&amp;#160; A further breakdown on the level of individual mechanisms is marred by the high degree of correlation between carbon cycle forcings likely operating in the Southern Hemisphere.&amp;#160; None-the-less, our results highlight how multiple mechanisms operating over multiple timescales may have interacted during the last glacial period to drive changes in atmospheric CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Millennial and sub-millennial scale climatic variations recorded in polar ice cores over the last glacial period

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Capron ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
J. Chappellaz ◽  
A. Schilt ◽  
D. Buiron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Mis 5 ◽  
The Last Glacial ◽  
Millennial Scale

Abstract. Since its discovery in Greenland ice cores, the millennial scale climatic variability of the last glacial period has been increasingly documented at all latitudes with studies focusing mainly on Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3; 28–60 thousand of years before present, hereafter ka) and characterized by short Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events. Recent and new results obtained on the EPICA and NorthGRIP ice cores now precisely describe the rapid variations of Antarctic and Greenland temperature during MIS 5 (73.5–123 ka), a time period corresponding to relatively high sea level. The results display a succession of abrupt events associated with long Greenland InterStadial phases (GIS) enabling us to highlight a sub-millennial scale climatic variability depicted by (i) short-lived and abrupt warming events preceding some GIS (precursor-type events) and (ii) abrupt warming events at the end of some GIS (rebound-type events). The occurrence of these sub-millennial scale events is suggested to be driven by the insolation at high northern latitudes together with the internal forcing of ice sheets. Thanks to a recent NorthGRIP-EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) common timescale over MIS 5, the bipolar sequence of climatic events can be established at millennial to sub-millennial timescale. This shows that for extraordinary long stadial durations the accompanying Antarctic warming amplitude cannot be described by a simple linear relationship between the two as expected from the bipolar seesaw concept. We also show that when ice sheets are extensive, Antarctica does not necessarily warm during the whole GS as the thermal bipolar seesaw model would predict, questioning the Greenland ice core temperature records as a proxy for AMOC changes throughout the glacial period.

scholarly journals New insights into the  ∼ 74 ka Toba eruption from sulfur isotopes of polar ice cores

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 2119-2137
Author(s):  
Laura Crick ◽  
Andrea Burke ◽  
William Hutchison ◽  
Mika Kohno ◽  
Kathryn A. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Isotopes ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
Amplifying Effect ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The ∼74 ka Toba eruption was one of the largest volcanic events of the Quaternary. There is much interest in determining the impact of such a large event, particularly on the climate and hominid populations at the time. Although the Toba eruption has been identified in both land and marine archives as the Youngest Toba Tuff, its precise place in the ice core record is ambiguous. Several volcanic sulfate signals have been identified in both Antarctic and Greenland ice cores and span the Toba eruption 40Ar/39Ar age uncertainty. Here, we measure sulfur isotope compositions in Antarctic ice samples from the Dome C (EDC) and Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice cores at high temporal resolution across 11 of these potential Toba sulfate peaks to identify candidates with sulfur mass-independent fractionation (S-MIF), indicative of an eruption whose plume reached altitudes at or above the stratospheric ozone layer. Using this method, we identify several candidate sulfate peaks that contain stratospheric sulfur. We further narrow down potential candidates based on the isotope signatures by identifying sulfate peaks that are due to a volcanic event at tropical latitudes. In one of these sulfate peaks at 73.67 ka, we find the largest ever reported magnitude of S-MIF in volcanic sulfate in polar ice, with a Δ33S value of −4.75 ‰. As there is a positive correlation between the magnitude of the S-MIF signal recorded in ice cores and eruptive plume height, this could be a likely candidate for the Toba super-eruption, with a plume top height in excess of 45 km. These results support the 73.7±0.3 ka (1σ) 40Ar/39Ar age estimate for the eruption, with ice core ages of our candidates with the largest magnitude S-MIF at 73.67 and 73.74 ka. Finally, since these candidate eruptions occurred on the transition into Greenland Stadial 20, the relative timing suggests that Toba was not the trigger for the large Northern Hemisphere cooling at this time although we cannot rule out an amplifying effect.

scholarly journals Bipolar volcanic synchronization of abrupt climate change in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores during the last glacial period

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1565-1580
Author(s):  
Anders Svensson ◽  
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen ◽  
Jørgen Peder Steffensen ◽  
Thomas Blunier ◽  
Sune O. Rasmussen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Abrupt Climate Change ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Deuterium Excess ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. The last glacial period is characterized by a number of millennial climate events that have been identified in both Greenland and Antarctic ice cores and that are abrupt in Greenland climate records. The mechanisms governing this climate variability remain a puzzle that requires a precise synchronization of ice cores from the two hemispheres to be resolved. Previously, Greenland and Antarctic ice cores have been synchronized primarily via their common records of gas concentrations or isotopes from the trapped air and via cosmogenic isotopes measured on the ice. In this work, we apply ice core volcanic proxies and annual layer counting to identify large volcanic eruptions that have left a signature in both Greenland and Antarctica. Generally, no tephra is associated with those eruptions in the ice cores, so the source of the eruptions cannot be identified. Instead, we identify and match sequences of volcanic eruptions with bipolar distribution of sulfate, i.e. unique patterns of volcanic events separated by the same number of years at the two poles. Using this approach, we pinpoint 82 large bipolar volcanic eruptions throughout the second half of the last glacial period (12–60 ka). This improved ice core synchronization is applied to determine the bipolar phasing of abrupt climate change events at decadal-scale precision. In response to Greenland abrupt climatic transitions, we find a response in the Antarctic water isotope signals (δ18O and deuterium excess) that is both more immediate and more abrupt than that found with previous gas-based interpolar synchronizations, providing additional support for our volcanic framework. On average, the Antarctic bipolar seesaw climate response lags the midpoint of Greenland abrupt δ18O transitions by 122±24 years. The time difference between Antarctic signals in deuterium excess and δ18O, which likewise informs the time needed to propagate the signal as described by the theory of the bipolar seesaw but is less sensitive to synchronization errors, suggests an Antarctic δ18O lag behind Greenland of 152±37 years. These estimates are shorter than the 200 years suggested by earlier gas-based synchronizations. As before, we find variations in the timing and duration between the response at different sites and for different events suggesting an interaction of oceanic and atmospheric teleconnection patterns as well as internal climate variability.

Greenland ice core records and rapid climate change

1995 ◽  
Vol 352 (1699) ◽  
pp. 359-371 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Quaternary Climate ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
The Last Glacial

Long ice cores from Greenland yield records of annually resolved climate change for the past ten to twenty thousand years, and decadal resolution for one hundred thousand years or more. These cores are ideally suited to determine the rapidity with which major climate changes occur. The termination of the Younger Dryas, which marks the end of the last glacial period, appears to have occurred in less than a human lifetime in terms of oxygen isotopic evidence (a proxy for temperature), in less than a generation (20 years) for dust content and deuterium excess (proxies for winds and sea-surface conditions), and in only a few years for the accumulation rate of snow. Similarly rapid changes have been observed for stadial-interstadial climate shifts (Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles) which punctuate the climate of the last glacial period. These changes appear to be too rapid to be attributed to external orbital forcings, and may result from internal instabilities in the Earth’s atmosphere-ocean system or periodic massive iceberg discharges associated with ice sheet instability (Heinrich events). In contrast, the Holocene climate of the Arctic appears to have been relatively stable. However, the potential for unstable interglacials, with very rapid, shortlived climatic deteriorations, has been raised by results from the lower part of the GRIP ice core. These results have not been confirmed by other ice cores, notably the nearby GISP2 core. Evidence from other records of climate during the Eemian interglacial have yielded mixed results, and the potential for rapid climate change during interglacial periods remains one of the most intriguing gaps in our understanding of the nature of major Quaternary climate change.

scholarly journals Objective identification of climate states from Greenland ice cores for the last glacial period

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1209-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Peavoy ◽  
C. Franzke
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The North ◽  
Core Project ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. We present statistical methods to systematically determine climate regimes for the last glacial period using three temperature proxy records from Greenland: measurements of δ18O from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2), the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) and the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP). By using Bayesian model comparison methods we find that, in two out of three data sets, a model with 3 states is very strongly supported. We interpret these states as corresponding to: a gradual cooling regime due to iceberg influx in the North Atlantic, sudden temperature decrease due to increased freshwater influx following ice sheet collapse and to the Dansgaard-Oeschger events associated with sudden rebound temperature increase after the thermohaline circulation recovers its full flux. We find that these models are far superior to those that differentiate between states based on absolute temperature differences only, which questions the appropriateness of defining stadial and interstadial climate states. We investigate the recurrence properties of these climate regimes and find that the only significant periodicity is within the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 data at 1450 years in agreement with previous studies.

scholarly journals New insights into the ~74 ka Toba eruption from sulfur isotopes of polar ice cores

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Crick ◽  
Andrea Burke ◽  
William Hutchison ◽  
Mika Kohno ◽  
Kathryn A. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Isotopes ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Plume Height ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
Amplifying Effect ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The ~74 ka Toba eruption was one of the largest volcanic events of the Quaternary. There is much interest in determining the impact of such a huge event, particularly on the climate and hominid populations at the time. Although the Toba eruption has been identified in both land and marine archives as the Youngest Toba Tuff, its precise place in the ice core record is ambiguous. Multiple volcanic sulfate signals have been identified in both Antarctic and Greenland ice cores within the uncertainty of age estimates as possible events for the Toba eruption. We measure sulfur isotope compositions in Antarctic ice samples at high temporal resolution across 11 of these potential Toba sulfate peaks in two cores to identify candidates with sulfur mass-independent fractionation (S-MIF), indicative of an eruption whose plume reached altitudes at or above the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Using this method, we identify several candidate sulfate peaks that contain stratospheric sulfur. We further narrow down potential candidates based on the isotope signatures by identifying sulfate peaks that are due to a volcanic event at tropical latitudes. In one of these sulfate peaks at 73.67 ka, we find the largest ever reported magnitude of S-MIF in volcanic sulfate in polar ice, with a Δ33S value of −4.75 ‰. As there is a positive correlation between the magnitude of the S-MIF signal recorded in ice cores and eruptive plume height, this could be a likely candidate for the Toba supereruption, with a plume height in excess of 45 km. These results support the 73.7 ± 0.3 ka (1σ) ka Ar/Ar age estimate for the eruption, with ice core ages of our candidates with the largest magnitude S-MIF at 73.67 and 73.74 ka. Finally, since these candidate eruptions occurred on the transition into Greenland Stadial 20, the relative timing suggests that Toba was not the trigger for the large Northern Hemisphere cooling at this time although we cannot rule out an amplifying effect.

Geochemical and Microbiological Studies of Nitrous Oxide Variations within the New NEEM Greenland Ice Core during the Last Glacial Period

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 647-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanya Miteva ◽  
Todd Sowers ◽  
Simon Schüpbach ◽  
Hubertus Fischer ◽  
Jean Brenchley
Keyword(s):  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The Last Glacial
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