| Title | Orbital and millennial-scale features of atmospheric CH4 over the past 800,000 years |
| Author | Loulergue, L.; Schilt, A.; Spahni, R.; Masson-Delmotte, V.; Blunier, T.; Lemieux, B.; Barnola, J.; Raynaud, D.; Stocker, T.F.; Chappellaz, J. |
| Author Affil | Loulergue, L., Université Joseph Fourier, Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, St. Martin d'Heres, France. Other: University of Bern, Switzerland |
| Source | Nature (London), 453(7193), p.383-386, . Publisher: Macmillan Journals, London, United Kingdom. ISSN: 0028- 0836 |
| Publication Date | May 15, 2008 |
| Notes | In English. 28 refs. GeoRef Acc. No: 284424. CRREL Acc. No: 62004841 |
| Index Terms | climatic change; geochemistry; glaciation; hydrocarbons; hydrogen; isotopes; oxygen; Antarctica--Dome C; Greenland; aliphatic hydrocarbons; alkanes; Antarctica; Arctic region; atmosphere; Cenozoic; climate change; climate forcing; cycles; D/H; deglaciation; Dome C; EPICA; ice cores; isotope ratios; methane; O-18/O-16; orbital forcing; organic compounds; paleoatmosphere; paleoenvironment; periodicity; Quaternary; reconstruction; stable isotopes; upper Quaternary; Wilkes Land |
| Abstract | Atmospheric methane is an important greenhouse gas and a sensitive indicator of climate change and millennial-scale temperature variability. Its concentrations over the past 650,000 years have varied between 350 and 800 parts per 109 by volume (p.p.b.v.) during glacial and interglacial periods, respectively. In comparison, present- day methane levels of 1,770 p.p.b.v. have been reported. Insights into the external forcing are essential for predicting the methane budget in a warmer world. Here we present a detailed atmospheric methane record from the EPICA Dome C ice core that extends the history of this greenhouse gas to 800,000 yr before present. (mod. journ. abst.) |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.1038/nature06950 |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 84101 |