Large Variations in Southern Hemisphere Biomass Burning During the Last 650 Years

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Wang, Z., Chappellaz, Jerome, Park, K., Mak, J. E.
• Other Authors: Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres Stony Brook (ITPA), School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Stony Brook (SoMAS), Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY)-State University of New York (SUNY)-Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY)-State University of New York (SUNY), CLIPS, 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)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology; Antarctic; Antarc*; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00653794; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197257

International audience We present a 650-year Antarctic ice core record of concentration and isotopic ratios ([delta]13C and [delta]18O) of atmospheric carbon monoxide. Concentrations decreased by ~25% (14 parts per billion by volume) from the mid-1300s to the 1600s then recovered completely by the late 1800s. [delta]13C and [delta]18O decreased by about 2 and 4 per mil ([per mille sign]), respectively, from the mid-1300s to the 1600s then increased by about 2.5 and 4[per mille sign] by the late 1800s. These observations and isotope mass balance model results imply that large variations in the degree of biomass burning in the Southern Hemisphere occurred during the last 650 years, with a decrease by about 50% in the 1600s, an increase of about 100% by the late 1800s, and another decrease by about 70% from the late 1800s to present day.