Stable-isotope ratios and concentration of CO2 in air from polar ice cores

Siegenthaler, U.; Friedli, H.; Loetscher, H.; Moor, E.; Neftel, A.; Oeschger, H.; Stauffer, B. (1988). Stable-isotope ratios and concentration of CO2 in air from polar ice cores. Annals of glaciology, 10, pp. 151-156. International Glaciological Society 10.3189/S0260305500004341

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Analyses of air trapped in an ice core from the South Pole indicate that the CO2 concentration may have increased by about 10 ppm and that the 13C/12C ratio decreased slightly in the thirteenth century. These changes, if really of atmospheric origin, must be due to a significant input into the atmosphere of CO2, either of biogenic or of oceanic origin.

18O/16O ratios in CO2 from different ice cores are much lower than those which have been observed in atmospheric carbon dioxide. A possible explanation is that the CO2 has equilibrated isotopically with the ice. We have calculated equilibrium isotope-fractionation factors between ice and carbon dioxide and found that the observed 18O/16O ratios of CO2 are indeed near isotopic equilibrium with the ice. This indicates that an exchange of oxygen atoms probably occurs between ice and included CO2.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

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:

0260-3055

Publisher:

International Glaciological Society

Language:

English

Submitter:

BORIS Import 2

Date Deposited:

13 Oct 2021 14:49

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:52

Publisher DOI:

10.3189/S0260305500004341

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/158756

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/158756

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