International Effort Helps Decipher Mysteries of Paleoclimate From Antarctic Ice Cores

• Published in: Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union
• Main Authors: Abysov, S.S., Angelis, M., Barkov, N.I., Barnola, J. M., Bender, M., Chappellaz, J., Chistiakov, V.K., Duval, P., Genthon, C., Jouzel, J., Kotlyakov, V.M., Kudriashov, B.B., Lipenkov, V.Y., Legrand, Michel, E, Lorius, C., Malaize, B., Martinerie, P., Nikolayev, V.I., Petit, J.R., Raynaud, D., Raisbeck, G., Ritz, C., Salamatin, A.N., Saltzman, E., Sowers, T., Stievenard, M., Vostretsov, R.N., Wahlen, M., Waelbroeck, Claire, Yiou, F., Yiou, Pascal
• Other Authors: 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), Laboratoire de Modélisation du Climat et de l'Environnement (LMCE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 1995
• Subjects: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; East Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03345454; https://hal.science/hal-03345454/document; https://hal.science/hal-03345454/file/95EO00090.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/95EO00090

International audience Ice cores drilled at Vostok Station, Antarctica, and studied over the past 10 years by Russia, France, and the United States (Figure 1) are providing a wealth of information about past climate and environmental changes over more than a full glacial-interglacial cycle. The ice cores show that East Antarctica was colder and drier during glacial periods than during the Holocene and that large-scale atmospheric circulation was more vigorous during glacial times. They also support evidence from deep-sea sediment studies favoring orbital forcing of Pleistocene climate, reveal direct correlations of carbon dioxide and methane concentrations with temperature, and indicate how the accumulation of trace compounds have changed through time.