Atmospheric methane variability through the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation mainly controlled by tropical sources ...
Constraining the causes of past atmospheric methane variability is important for understanding links between methane and climate. Abrupt methane changes during the last deglaciation have been intensely studied for this purpose, but the relative importance of high-latitude and tropical sources remain...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/194680 https://boris.unibe.ch/194680/ |
| Summary: | Constraining the causes of past atmospheric methane variability is important for understanding links between methane and climate. Abrupt methane changes during the last deglaciation have been intensely studied for this purpose, but the relative importance of high-latitude and tropical sources remains poorly constrained. The methane interpolar concentration difference reflects past geographic emission variability, but existing records suffered from subtle but considerable methane production during analysis. Here, we report an ice-core-derived interpolar difference record covering the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation, with substantially improved temporal resolution, chronology and a critical correction for methane production in samples from Greenland. Using box models to infer latitudinal source changes, we show that tropical sources dominated abrupt methane variability of the deglaciation, highlighting their sensitivity to abrupt climate change and rapidly shifting tropical rainfall patterns. Northern ... |
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