A record of the atmospheric methane sink from formaldehyde in polar ice cores

Staffelbach, Thomas; Neftel, Albrecht; Stauffer, Bernhard; Jacob, Daniel (1991). A record of the atmospheric methane sink from formaldehyde in polar ice cores. Nature, 349(6310), pp. 603-605. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/349603a0

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Measurements of methane from ice cores show that the atmospheric concentration of methane has more than doubled since industrialization, and was only half of the pre-industrial value during the last ice age (1–9). Natural sources of atmospheric methane are mainly biogenic, with the main sink for methane being its reaction with OH radicals. This reaction initiates a chain of reactions involving other trace gases and radicals, one of which is formaldehyde. In the remote troposphere, oxidation of methane followed by other reactions is the main source for formaldehyde. By reconstructing records of atmospheric methane and formaldehyde from ice cores, we can examine changes in sources of methane and in the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics

UniBE Contributor:

Stauffer, Bernhard

Subjects:

500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0028-0836

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

BORIS Import 2

Date Deposited:

18 Aug 2021 09:29

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:52

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/349603a0

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/158244

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/158244

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