Atmospheric Methane and Nitrous Oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic Ice Cores

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Spahni, Renato, Chappellaz, Jérôme, Stocker, Thomas F., Loulergue, Laetitia, Hausammann, Gregor, Kawamura, Kenji, Flückiger, Jacqueline, Schwander, Jakob, Raynaud, Dominique, Masson-Delmotte, Valérie, Jouzel, Jean
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2005
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1120132; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1120132

The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core enables us to extend existing records of atmospheric methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) back to 650,000 years before the present. A combined record of CH 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 4 concentrations were only about 600 ppbv, similar to lower Holocene values. In contrast, the N 2 O record shows maximum concentrations of 278 ± 7 ppbv, slightly higher than early Holocene values.