Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals
During the last glacial/interglacial transition the Earth's climate underwent abrupt changes around 14.6 kyr ago. Temperature proxies from ice cores revealed the onset of the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) warm period in the north and the start of the Antarctic Cold Reversal in the south. Furthermore, t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7117fc70371a45d0aadb8b803bf7959a 2023-05-15T14:00:08+02:00 Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals J. Chappellaz A. Lourantou D. Buiron P. Köhler G. Knorr 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-473-2011 https://doaj.org/article/7117fc70371a45d0aadb8b803bf7959a EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.clim-past.net/7/473/2011/cp-7-473-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-473-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/7117fc70371a45d0aadb8b803bf7959a Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 473-486 (2011) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-473-2011 2022-12-31T13:44:33Z During the last glacial/interglacial transition the Earth's climate underwent abrupt changes around 14.6 kyr ago. Temperature proxies from ice cores revealed the onset of the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) warm period in the north and the start of the Antarctic Cold Reversal in the south. Furthermore, the B/A was accompanied by a rapid sea level rise of about 20 m during meltwater pulse (MWP) 1A, whose exact timing is a matter of current debate. In-situ measured CO 2 in the EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core also revealed a remarkable jump of 10 ± 1 ppmv in 230 yr at the same time. Allowing for the modelled age distribution of CO 2 in firn, we show that atmospheric CO 2 could have jumped by 20–35 ppmv in less than 200 yr, which is a factor of 2–3.5 greater than the CO 2 signal recorded in-situ in EDC. This rate of change in atmospheric CO 2 corresponds to 29–50% of the anthropogenic signal during the last 50 yr and is connected with a radiative forcing of 0.59–0.75 W m −2 . Using a model-based airborne fraction of 0.17 of atmospheric CO 2 , we infer that 125 Pg of carbon need to be released into the atmosphere to produce such a peak. If the abrupt rise in CO 2 at the onset of the B/A is unique with respect to other Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) events of the last 60 kyr (which seems plausible if not unequivocal based on current observations), then the mechanism responsible for it may also have been unique. Available δ 13 CO 2 data are neutral, whether the source of the carbon is of marine or terrestrial origin. We therefore hypothesise that most of the carbon might have been activated as a consequence of continental shelf flooding during MWP-1A. This potential impact of rapid sea level rise on atmospheric CO 2 might define the point of no return during the last deglaciation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic EPICA ice core Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Climate of the Past 7 2 473 486 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 J. Chappellaz A. Lourantou D. Buiron P. Köhler G. Knorr Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
During the last glacial/interglacial transition the Earth's climate underwent abrupt changes around 14.6 kyr ago. Temperature proxies from ice cores revealed the onset of the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) warm period in the north and the start of the Antarctic Cold Reversal in the south. Furthermore, the B/A was accompanied by a rapid sea level rise of about 20 m during meltwater pulse (MWP) 1A, whose exact timing is a matter of current debate. In-situ measured CO 2 in the EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core also revealed a remarkable jump of 10 ± 1 ppmv in 230 yr at the same time. Allowing for the modelled age distribution of CO 2 in firn, we show that atmospheric CO 2 could have jumped by 20–35 ppmv in less than 200 yr, which is a factor of 2–3.5 greater than the CO 2 signal recorded in-situ in EDC. This rate of change in atmospheric CO 2 corresponds to 29–50% of the anthropogenic signal during the last 50 yr and is connected with a radiative forcing of 0.59–0.75 W m −2 . Using a model-based airborne fraction of 0.17 of atmospheric CO 2 , we infer that 125 Pg of carbon need to be released into the atmosphere to produce such a peak. If the abrupt rise in CO 2 at the onset of the B/A is unique with respect to other Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) events of the last 60 kyr (which seems plausible if not unequivocal based on current observations), then the mechanism responsible for it may also have been unique. Available δ 13 CO 2 data are neutral, whether the source of the carbon is of marine or terrestrial origin. We therefore hypothesise that most of the carbon might have been activated as a consequence of continental shelf flooding during MWP-1A. This potential impact of rapid sea level rise on atmospheric CO 2 might define the point of no return during the last deglaciation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. Chappellaz A. Lourantou D. Buiron P. Köhler G. Knorr |
author_facet |
J. Chappellaz A. Lourantou D. Buiron P. Köhler G. Knorr |
author_sort |
J. Chappellaz |
title |
Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
title_short |
Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
title_full |
Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
title_fullStr |
Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Abrupt rise in atmospheric CO 2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
title_sort |
abrupt rise in atmospheric co 2 at the onset of the bølling/allerød: in-situ ice core data versus true atmospheric signals |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-473-2011 https://doaj.org/article/7117fc70371a45d0aadb8b803bf7959a |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic EPICA ice core |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic EPICA ice core |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 2, Pp 473-486 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.clim-past.net/7/473/2011/cp-7-473-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-473-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/7117fc70371a45d0aadb8b803bf7959a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-473-2011 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
473 |
op_container_end_page |
486 |
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1766269137318838272 |