Abstract:
A record of atmospheric CO2 concentration during the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene, obtained from the Dome Concordia (Antarctica) ice core, reveals that an increase of 76 parts per million by volume (ppmv) occurred over a period of 6 thousand years in four clearly distinguishable intervals. The close correlation between CO2 concentration and Antarctic temperature indicates that the Southern Ocean played an important role in causing the CO2 increase. However, the similarity of changes in CO2 concentration and variations of atmospheric methane concentration suggests that processes in the tropics and in the northern hemisphere, where the main sources for methane are located, also had significant effects on atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Laboratoire de Glaciologie et de
Geophysique de l''Environnement
City:
Saint Martin d''Heres Cedex
Postal Code:
38402
Country:
FRANCE
Publications/References
E. Monnin, A. Indermuhle, A. Dallenbach, J. Fluckiger, B. Stauffer, T. F. Stocker, D. Raynaud, and J.-M. Barnola, 2001, Atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the last glacial termination, Science 291, 112-114, 2001.
Schwander, J., J. Jouzel, C.U. Hammer, J.-R. Petit, R. Udisti, and E.W. Wolff. 2001. A tentative chronology for the EPICA Dome Concordia ice core, Geophysical Research Letters, 28 (22), 4243-4246, 2001.
