Bipolar reconstructions of atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide during the last glacial-interglacial cycle ...

• Main Author: Baumgartner, Matthias
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: :unas 2013
• Subjects: 530 Physics; Antarctic; Greenland; Antarc*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/192551; https://boris.unibe.ch/192551/

The focus of this thesis is on atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide, which are the most important greenhouse gases after water vapor and carbon dioxide today. Anthropogenic activity has drastically increased the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases through the last 200 years which initiated global warming on Earth. Reconstructions of the past atmospheric composition based on the unique Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet climate archive provide insight into the natural variability of greenhouse gases. This thesis contributes to the establishment of high-quality methane and nitrous oxide records from bipolar ice cores over the last glacial-interglacial cycle. The data are an important basis for modeling studies and allow to estimate the past natural emissions of methane and nitrous oxide. Comparing the past climate variability and variations in greenhouse gas emissions provides important knowledge about changes in the biogeochemical cycles on the Earth. The main part of this PhD thesis is presented in the ...