Changes in the carbon cycle during the last deglaciation as indicated by the comparison of $^{10}$Be and $^{14}$C records

• Published in: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
• Main Authors: Muscheler, R., Beer, J., Wagner, G., Laj, C., Kissel, C., Raisbeck, G.M., Yiou, F., W. Kubik, P.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Climat et Magnétisme (CLIMAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Centre de Spectrométrie Nucléaire et de Spectrométrie de Masse (CSNSM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2004
• Subjects: cosmogenic radionuclides; ice cores; carbon cycle; ocean circulation; paleomagnetism; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Greenland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00025055; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00722-2

The variations in atmospheric radiocarbon ($^{14}$C) concentration during the last 50 000 years can be attributed to changes in the $^{14}$C production rate (due to changes in solar activity, the geomagnetic field and/or interstellar galactic cosmic ray flux) and to changes in the global carbon cycle. The relative contributions of these processes is the subject of current debate. Although the discrepancies between the various reconstructions of the past atmospheric radiocarbon concentration increase with age, the relatively good agreement over the last 25 000 years allows a quantitative discussion of the causes of the observed $^{14}$C variations for this period. Using $^{10}$Be measurements from Greenland Summit ice cores, we show that, in addition to solar and geomagnetically induced production rate changes, significant changes in the carbon cycle have to be considered to explain the measured $^{14}$C concentrations. There is evidence that these changes are connected to: (1) global deglaciation and (2) climate changes in the North Atlantic region on centennial to millennial time scales related to changes in the ocean circulation. Differences between $^{10}$Be and geomagnetic field records, however, suggest that uncertainties of about 20% still exist in determinations of past changes in the $^{14}$C production rate.