Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica

The recent completion of drilling at Vostok station in East Antarctica has allowed the extension of the ice record of atmospheric composition and climate to the past four glacial–interglacial cycles. The succession of changes through each climate cycle and termination was similar, and atmospheric an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Petit, JR, Jouzel, J, Raynaud, D, Barkov, NI, Barnola, J-M, Basile, I, Bender, M, Chappellaz, J, Davis, M, Delaygue, G, Delmotte, M, Kotlyakov, VM, Legrand, M, Lorius, C, PÉpin, L, Ritz, C, Saltzman, ES, Stievenard, M
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: eScholarship, University of California 1999
Subjects:
Antarctic
East Antarctica
Vostok Station
Antarc*
Antarctica
ice core
Online Access:http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7rx4413n
Description
Summary:The recent completion of drilling at Vostok station in East Antarctica has allowed the extension of the ice record of atmospheric composition and climate to the past four glacial–interglacial cycles. The succession of changes through each climate cycle and termination was similar, and atmospheric and climate properties oscillated between stable bounds. Interglacial periods differed in temporal evolution and duration. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane correlate well with Antarctic air-temperature throughout the record. Present-day atmospheric burdens of these two important greenhouse gases seem to have been unprecedented during the past 420,000 years.

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