Reconstruction of the carbon isotopic composition of methane over the last 50 yr based on firn air measurements at 11 polar sites

International audience Methane is a strong greenhouse gas and large uncertainties exist concerning the future evolution of its atmospheric abundance. Analyzing methane atmospheric mixing and stable isotope ratios in air trapped in polar ice sheets helps reconstructing the evolution of its sources an...

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Main Authors: Sapart, C.J., Martinerie, Patricia, Chappellaz, Jérôme, Van De Wal, R.S.W., Sperlich, P., Van Der Veen, C., Bernard, Serge, Sturges, W. T., Blunier, T., Witrant, Emmanuel, Schwander, Jakob, Etheridge, D., Röckmann, T.
Other Authors: Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University Utrecht, CLIPS, CHANG, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CLIPS, Centre for Ice and Climate Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen (NBI), Faculty of Science Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-Faculty of Science Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), School of Environmental Sciences Norwich, University of East Anglia Norwich (UEA), GIPSA - Systèmes linéaires et robustesse (GIPSA-SLR), Département Automatique (GIPSA-DA), Grenoble Images Parole Signal Automatique (GIPSA-lab), Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Grenoble Images Parole Signal Automatique (GIPSA-lab), Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Climate and Environmental Physics Bern (CEP), Physikalisches Institut Bern, Universität Bern Bern -Universität Bern Bern, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00821201
https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-12-9587-2012
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Summary:International audience Methane is a strong greenhouse gas and large uncertainties exist concerning the future evolution of its atmospheric abundance. Analyzing methane atmospheric mixing and stable isotope ratios in air trapped in polar ice sheets helps reconstructing the evolution of its sources and sinks in the past. This is important to improve predictions of atmospheric CH4 mixing ratios in the future under the influence of a changing climate. We present an attempt to reconcile methane carbon isotope records from 11 firn sites from both Greenland and Antarctica to reconstruct a consistent 13C(CH4) history over the last 50 yr. In the firn, the atmospheric signal is altered mainly by diffusion and grav itation. These processes are taken into account by firn transport models. We show that isotope reconstructions from individual sites are not always mutually consistent among the different sites. Therefore we apply for the first time a multisite isotope inversion to reconstruct an atmospheric isotope history that is constrained by all individual sites, generating a multisite “best-estimate” scenario. This scenario is compared to ice core data, atmospheric air archive results and direct atmospheric monitoring data.