1. Atmospheric Methane and Nitrous Oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic Ice Cores.
- Author
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Spahni, Renato, Chappellaz, Jérôme, Stocker, Thomas F., Loulergue, Laetitia, Hausammann, Gregor, Kawamura, Kenji, Flückiger, Jacqueline, Schwander, Jakob, Raynaud, Dominique, Masson-Delmotte, Valérie, and Jouzel, Jean
- Subjects
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ANTARCTIC ice , *ATMOSPHERIC methane , *NITROUS oxide , *NITROGEN oxides ,HOLOCENE paleohydrology - Abstract
The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core enables us to extend existing records of atmospheric methane (CH[sub 4]) and nitrous oxide (N[sub 2]O) back to 650,000 years before the present. A combined record of CH[sub 4] measured along the Dome C and the Vostok ice cores demonstrates, within the resolution of our measurements, that preindustrial concentrations over Antarctica have not exceeded 773 ± 15 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) during the past 650,000 years. Before 420,000 years ago, when interglacials were cooler, maximum CH[sub 4] concentrations were only about 600 ppbv, similar to lower Holocene values. In contrast, the N[sub 2]O record shows maximum concentrations of 278 = 7 ppbv, slightly higher than early Holocene values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
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