Greenhouse Gas (CO2, CH4) and Climate Evolution since 650 kyrs Deduced from Anta
Date: Thursday, September 29 @ 08:00:00 MDT
Topic: Carbon Cycle Response to Climate Change
By Jean Marc Barnola
Ice cores are unique archives of past climatic and atmospheric
conditions through the isotopic composition of the ice and the analysis of the
air bubbles trapped. In 1999 Petit et al published the reconstruction of the
Antarctic climate and atmospheric composition over the last 420 000 years from
the Vostok ice core. This record covered the last four glacial inter glacial
cycles back to the end of the marine interstadial 11 (MIS 11). It has revealed
the close relationship between the atmospheric part of the carbon cycle and the
climate. With CO2 concentration oscillating between 180 and 280 ppmv
during the last 4 climatic cycles. In
a similar way the methane concentration followed closely
temperature on glacial interglacial time scales, with millennial-scale
structures during glacial times which appear out of phased with Antarctic
temperature but, at least for the last glaciation, in phase with the Greenland rapid climatic oscillations, as revealed by the
GISP and GRIP ice cores.
Link to Abstract
Link to Slides
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