A new Himalayan ice core CH 4 record: possible hints at the preindustrial latitudinal gradient

Two ice cores recovered from the Himalayan East Rongbuk (ER) Glacier on the northeast saddle of Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) (28°01' N, 86°58' E, 6518 m above sea level) give access to a tentative record of past Himalayan atmospheric mixing ratio of CH 4 spanning the past 1200 yr. The major pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climate of the Past
Main Authors: S. Hou, J. Chappellaz, D. Raynaud, V. Masson-Delmotte, J. Jouzel, P. Bousquet, D. Hauglustaine
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2013
Subjects:
Environmental pollution
TD172-193.5
Environmental protection
TD169-171.8
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Antarctic
Greenland
Antarc*
glacier
ice core
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2549-2013
https://doaj.org/article/e7cebedc3f9a4014839460d217ac4f3f
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Summary:Two ice cores recovered from the Himalayan East Rongbuk (ER) Glacier on the northeast saddle of Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) (28°01' N, 86°58' E, 6518 m above sea level) give access to a tentative record of past Himalayan atmospheric mixing ratio of CH 4 spanning the past 1200 yr. The major part of the record is affected by artifacts probably due to in situ production. After selecting what may represent the true atmospheric mixing ratio, an average of 749 ± 25 ppbv of CH 4 is estimated for the late preindustrial Holocene, which is ~ 36 ± 17 (~ 73 ± 18) ppbv higher than the atmospheric levels recorded in the Greenland (Antarctic) ice cores. A comparison of these new data with model simulations of the CH 4 latitudinal gradient suggests either that the models do not get a correct balance between high and low latitude CH 4 sources, or that the filtered CH 4 profile from the ER cores remains biased by small artifacts.

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