 |
| Titel |
Constructing a High-Resolution Holocene Interpolar Methane Gradient |
| VerfasserIn |
Todd Sowers, Diana Vladimirova, Thomas Blunier |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2017
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
en
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 19 (2017) |
| Datensatznummer |
250144275
|
| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2017-8083.pdf |
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| The concentration of methane (CH4) in the northern hemisphere is elevated relative to the
southern hemisphere primarily because of enhanced northern hemisphere CH4 emissions.
During the preAnthropogenic era (prior to 1600AD) the interpolar CH4 gradient (IPG) is
effectively dictated by the ratio of tropical to Pan Arctic CH4 emissions. IPG records from ice
cores in Greenland and Antarctica therefore provide fundamental information for assessing
the latitudinal distribution of CH4 emissions and their relation to global climate
change.
We recently constructed a high-resolution (100yr) record of IPG changes throughout the
Holocene using the ReCAP (E. Greenland) and WAIS (W. Antarctica) ice cores.
Contemporaneous samples from both cores were analyzed on the same day to minimize
analytical uncertainties associated with IPG reconstructions. CH4 results from the WAIS core
were indistinguishable from previous results suggesting our analytical scheme was intact (±
3ppb). Our reconstructed IPG showed early Holocene IPG values of ∼65ppb declining
throughout the Holocene to values approximating ∼45 ppb during the latest portion of the
Holocene (preAnthropogenic). Our results are consistent with the idea that early Holocene
peatland development in the PanArctic regions followed glacier retreat near the end of the
last glacial termination. These newly formed PanArctic peatlands contributed an
additional 20Tg of CH4/yr during the Early Holocene relative to the late Holocene. |
|
|
|
|
|