ICE CORE METHODS|Methane Studies

• Main Author: Chappellaz, Jérôme
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: Antarctica; Anthropogenic impact; Atmospheric composition; Biogeochemical cycles; Climate dynamics; Dansgaard–Oeschger events; Greenland; Greenhouse effect; Ice cores; Methane; Phase relationship; [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarc*; Dansgaard-Oeschger events; ice core
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00381211; https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-44-452747-8/00338-0

This article presents a state-of-the-art of atmospheric methane reconstruction based on ice-core studies. Starting with a biogeochemical overview of the methane cycle, it explains the processes of gas diffusion in firn and trapping in ice. It presents and discusses the anthropogenic impact on atmospheric CH4, and then the trend of this greenhouse gas over the last millennium, the Holocene, the last glaciation and deglaciation (including its use as a stratigraphic marker for correlating ice cores), and the last six glacial–interglacial cycles. Analytical techniques are also described.