Abstract
Ice cores are paleoclimatic archives that permit the reconstruction of past local precipitation temperature (from the measurements of water isotopes) and past atmospheric gas concentration (from the analysis of the air trapped in the ice) over the past 800,000 years. However, water isotopes are not a quantitative tracer for past temperature in Greenland ice cores. Moreover, because of the entrapment process, air is always younger than the surrounding ice so that the temporal phasing between temperature and atmospheric concentration changes is difficult to estimate.
Here, we present a recently developed method that permits us to infer the amplitude of past abrupt temperature changes from the air trapped in an ice core. This method is based on very accurate measurements of δ15N of N2 and δ40Ar of Ar in the air trapped in ice cores. Abrupt temperature changes at the surface of the ice-sheets create a transient temperature gradient in the firn (unconsolidated snow in the top 100 m of the ice sheet), which leads to isotopic fractionation of nitrogen and argon. The variations of δ15N and δ40Ar arising from surface temperature change are then trapped at the bottom of the firn as air bubbles close off. Then, combining the isotopic measurements with a firnification model including heat diffusion permits us to determine the amplitude of the past temperature change with an accuracy of ± 2.5°C. This method has demonstrated in particular that the Dansgaard Oeschger events that punctuated the last glacial period had an associated amplitude of up to 16°C in less than 100 years and that methane and Greenland temperature increases were synchronous (within 50 years).
Finally, there is hope that such a method may be used in Antarctic ice cores to constrain the phasing between changes in local temperature and in atmospheric concentration. This is however still an ongoing task, because in Antarctica, the temperature changes are too slow to induce a strong thermal gradient in the firn and the measured evolution of δ15N and δ40Ar is only partly understood. Still, promising first results using δ15N and δ40Ar measurements in the air trapped in an Antarctic ice core have shown that over a glacial to interglacial transition, CO2 was lagging East-Antarctic temperature by 800 ± 200 years.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Albert M, Shuman C, Courville Z et al (2004) Extreme firn metamorphism: impacts of decades of vapor transport on near surface firn at a low-accumulation glazed site on the East Antarctic Plateau. Ann Glaciol 39:73–78
Alley RB (1987) Firn densification by grain boundary sliding: a first model. J Phys 48(C1):249–256
Arnaud L, Barnola JM, Duval P (2000) Physical modeling of the densification of snow/firn and ice in the upper part of polar ice sheets. In: Hondoh T (ed) Physics of ice core records. Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo, pp 285–305
Arzt E (1982) The influence of an increasing particle coordination on the densification of spherical powders. Acta Metall 30(10):1883–1890
Arzt E, Ashby MF, Easterling KE (1983) Practical applications of hotisostatic pressing diagrams: four case studies. Metall Trans A 14:211–221
Barnola JM, Pimienta P, Raynaud D et al (1991) CO2 climate relationship as deduced from the Vostok ice core: a re-examination based on new measurements and on a re-evaluation of the air dating. Tellus 43B:83–91
Bender ML, Floch G, Chappellaz J, Suwa M, Barnola J-M, Blunier T, Dreyfus G, Jouzel J, Parrenin F (2006) Gas age-ice age differences and the chronology of the Vostok ice core, 0-100 ka. J Geophys Res, vol. 111, D21115, doi:10.1029/2005JD006488
Bender ML, Sowers TA, Labeyrie LD (1994a) The Dole effect and its variation during the last 130,000 years as measured in the Vostok core. Global Biogeochem Cy 8(3):363–376
Bender ML, Sowers TA, Dickson ML et al (1994b) Climate correlations between Greenland and Antarctica during the last 100,000 years. Nature 372:663–666
Bender ML, Sowers TA, Barnola JM et al (1994c) Changes in the O2/N2 ratio of the atmosphere during recent decades reflected in the composition of air in the firn at Vostok station. Antarct Geophys Res Lett 21:189–192
Bender ML, Barnett B, Dreyfus G et al (2008) The contemporary degassing rate of 40Ar from the solid Earth. PNAS 105(24):8232–8237
Bond G, Showers W, Cheseby M et al (1997) A pervasive millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic holocene and glacial climate. Science 278:1257–1266
Boyle EA (1997) Cool tropical temperatures shift the global δ18O-T relationship: an explanation for the ice core δ18O-borehole thermometry conflict. Geophys Res Lett 24:273–276
Caillon N, Severinghaus JP, Chappellaz J et al (2001) Impact of refrigeration temperature history on isotopic composition of air bubbles trapped in polar ice samples. Notes des Activités Instrumentales de l’IPSL 14
Caillon N, Severinghaus JP, Jouzel J et al (2003) Timing of CO2 and temperature changes across termination – III. Science 299:1728–1731
Capron E, Landais A, Masson-Delmotte V et al (2008) Isotopic composition of the air trapped in the EDML Ice Core (d15 N, d18Oatm, d40Ar, dO2/N2) over the last 140 kyrs. EGU2008-A-03049, Vienna
Capron E, Landais A, Lemieux-Dudon B et al (2010a) Synchronising EDML and NorthGRIP ice cores using δ18O of atmospheric oxygen (δ18Oatm) and CH4 measurements over MIS 5 (80–123 ka). Quat Sci Rev 29(1–2):235–246
Capron E, Landais A, Chappellaz J et al (2010b) Millennial and sub-millennial scale climatic variations recorded in polar ice cores over the last glacial period. Clim Past 6:345–365
Chapman S (1917) The kinetic theory of simple and composite monatomic gases: VISCOSITY thermal conduction, and diffusion. Reprinted in: Brush SG (1972) Kinetic theory, vol 3, p 102. Pergamon, New York
Chapman S, Dootson FW (1917) A note on thermal diffusion. Philos Mag 33:248–253
Craig H, Horibe Y, Sowers T (1988) Gravitational separation of gases and isotopes in polar ice caps. Science 242:1675–1678
Dahl-Jensen D, Mosegaard K, Gunderstrup GD et al (1998) Past temperatures directly from the Greenland ice sheet. Science 282:268–271
Dansgaard W (1954) The O18-abundance in fresh water. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 6:241–260
Dansgaard W (1964) Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16(4):436–468
Dreyfus GB, Jouzel J, Bender ML et al (2010) Firn processes and δ15N: potential for a gas-phase climate proxy. Quatern Sci Rev 29(1–2):28–42
Emerson S, Quay P, Stump C et al (1995) Chemical tracers of productivity and respiration in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. J Geophys Res 100:15873–15887
Enskog D (1917) Kinetic theory of processes in dilute gases. Reprinted in: Brush SG (1972) Kinetic theory, vol 3. Pergamon, New York
Fawcett PJ, Agutsdottir AM, Alley RB et al (1997) The Younger Dryas termination and North Atlantic deepwater formation: insights from climate model simulations and Greenland ice core data. Paleoceanography 12(1):23–38
Ganopolski A, Rahmstorf S (2001) Rapid changes of glacial climate simulated in a coupled climate model. Nature 409:153–158
Grachev AM, Severinghaus JP (2003a) Determining the thermal diffusion factor for 40Ar/36Ar in air to aid paleoreconstruction of abrupt climate change. J Phys Chem 107:4636–4642
Grachev AM, Severinghaus JP (2003b) Laboratory determination of thermal diffusion constants for 29N2/28N2 in air at temperature from −60 to 0°C for reconstruction of magnitudes of abrupt climatic changes using the ice core fossil-air paleothermometer. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:345–360
Grachev A, Severinghaus JP (2005) A revised +10±4 C magnitude of the abrupt change in Greenland temperature at the Younger Dryas termination using published GISP2 gas isotope data and air thermal diffusion constants. Quat Sci Rev 24:513–519
Goujon C, Barnola J-M, Ritz C (2003) Modeling the densification of firn including heat diffusion:application to close-off characteristics and gas isotopic fractionation for Antarctic and Greenland sites. Journal of Geophysical Research 108:4792
Herron M, Langway C (1980) Firn densification: an empirical model. J Glaciol 25:373–385
Huber C, Leuenberger M (2005) On-line systems for continuous water and gas isotope ratio measurements. Isot Environ Health Stud 41(3):189–205
Huber C, Beyerle U, Leuenberger M et al (2006a) Evidence for molecular size dependent gas fractionation in firn air derived from noble gases, oxygen, and nitrogen measurements. Earth Planet Sci Lett 243:61–73
Huber C, Leuenberger M, Spahni R et al (2006b) Isotope calibrated greenland temperature record over marine isotope stage 3 and its relation to CH4. Earth Planet Sci Let 243:504–519
Ikeda-Fukazawa T, Fukumizu K, Kawamura K (2005) Effects of molecular diffusion on trapped gas composition in polar ice cores. Earth Planet Sci Lett 229(3–4):183–192
Johnsen SJ, Dahl-Jensen D, Gundestrup N et al (2001) Oxygen isotope and palaeotemperature records from six Greenland ice-core stations: Camp Century, Dye 3, GRIP, GISP2, Renland and NorthGRIP. J Quat Sci 16(4):299–307
Jouzel J, Vimeux F, Caillon C et al (2003) Temperature reconstruction from antarctic ice cores. J Geophys Res 108(6):1–10
Kamawura K (2000) Variations of atmospheric components over the past 340000 years from Dome Fuji deep ice core, Antarctica. PhD Thesis, Tohoku
Kobashi T, Severinghaus JP, Brook EJ et al (2007) Precise timing and characterization of abrupt climate change 8,200 years ago from air trapped in polar ice. Quatern Sci Rev 26:1212–1222
Kobashi T, Severinghaus JP, Kawamura K (2008a) Argon and nitrogen isotopes of trapped air in the GISP2 ice core during the Holocene epoch (0–11,500 B.P.): methodology and implications for gas loss processes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:4675–4686
Kobashi T, Severinghaus JP, Barnola JM (2008b) 4±1.5°C abrupt warming 11,270 years ago identified from trapped air in Greenland ice. Earth Planet Sci Lett 268:397–407
Kobashi T, Severinghaus JP, Barnola JM et al (2010) Persistent multi-decadal Greenland temperature fluctuation through the last millennium. Clim Change 100:733–756
Krinner G, Genthon C, Jouzel J (1997) GCM analysis of local influences on ice core δ signals. Geophys Res Lett 24:2825–2828
Landais A, Caillon N, Severinghaus JP et al (2003a) Analyses isotopiques à haute précision de l’air piégé dans les glaces polaires pour la quantification des variations rapides de température: méthode et limites. Notes des Activités Instrumentales de l’IPSL 39
Landais A, Chappellaz J, Delmotte M et al (2003b) A tentative reconstruction of the last interglacial and glacial inception in Greenland based on new gas measurements in the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) ice core. J Geophys Res 108. doi:10.1029/2002JD003147
Landais A, Caillon N, Jouzel J et al (2004a) Quantification of rapid temperature change during DO event 12 and phasing with methane inferred from air isotopic measurements. Earth Planet Sci Lett 225:221–232
Landais A, Barnola JM, Masson-Delmotte V et al (2004b) A continuous record of temperature evolution over a whole sequence of Dansgaard-Oeschger during Marine Isotopic Stage 4 (76 to 62 kyr BP). Geophys Res Lett 31. doi:10.1029/2004GL021193
Landais A, Masson-Delmotte V, Jouzel J et al (2005) The glacial inception recorded in the NorthGRIP Greenland ice core: information from air isotopic measurements. Clim Dyn. doi:10.1007/ss00382-005-0063-y
Landais A, Barnola JM, Kawamura K et al (2006) Firn-air d15N in modern polar sites and glacial-interglacial ice: a model-data mismatch during glacial periods in Antarctica? Quatern Sci Rev 25(1–2):49–62
Landais A, Dreyfus G, Capron E et al (2010) What drives the orbital and millennial variations of d18Oatm? Quatern Sci Rev 29(1–2):235–246
Lang C, Leuenberger M, Schwander J et al (1999) 16°C rapid temperature variation in central Greenland 70,000 years ago. Science 286:934–937
Leuenberger M, Lang C, Schwander J (1999) Delta15N measurements as a calibration tool for the paleothermometer and gas-ice age differences: a case study for the 8200 B.P. event on GRIP ice. J Geophys Res 104:22163–22170
Mani FP, Dennis P, Sturges WT et al (2008) An improved method for delta 15N measurements in ice cores. Clim Past Discuss 4:149–171
Mariotti A (1983) Atmospheric nitrogen is a reliable standard for natural 15N abundance measurements. Nature 303:685–687
Mason EA, Munn RJ, Smith FJ (1966) Thermal diffusion in gases. J Adv At Mol Phys 2:33–91
McManus JF, Francois R, Gherardi JM et al (2004) Collapse and rapid resumption of atlantic meridional circulation linked to deglacial climate changes. Nature 428:834–837
NorthGRIP-Community-Members (2004) High resolution climate record of the northern hemisphere reaching into the last interglacial period. Nature 431:147–151
Petrenko VV, Severinghaus JP, Brook EJ et al (2006) Gas records from the west Greenland ice margin covering the last glacial termination: a horizontal ice core. Quatern Sci Rev 25:865–875
Picciotto E, deMaere X, Friedmann I (1960) Isotope composition and temperature of formation of Antarctic snows. Nature 187(4740):857–859
Pimienta P (1987) Etude du comportement mécanique des glaces polycristallines aux faibles contraintes; application aux glaces de calottes polaires. Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble
Ritz C (1989) Interpretation of the temperature profile measured at Vostok, East Antarctica. Ann Glaciol 12:138–144
Sánchez Goñi MF, Landais A, Fletcher WJ et al (2008) Contrasting impacts of Dansgaard–Oeschger events over a western European latitudinal transect modulated by orbital parameters. Quatern Sci Rev 27(11–12):1136–1151
Schlesinger WH (1997) Biogeochemistry. Geotimes 42(2):44
Schwander J (1989) The transformation of snow to ice and the occlusion of gases. In: Oeschger H, Langway CC Jr (eds) Environmental record in glaciers and ice sheets. Wiley, New York
Schwander J, Sowers T, Barnola JM et al (1997) Age scale of the air in the summit ice: implication for glacial-interglacial temperature change. J Geophys Res 102:19483–19493
Severinghaus JP, Battle M (2006) Fractionation of gases in polar ice during bubble close-off: new constraints from firn air Ne, Kr, and Xe observations. Earth Planet Sci Lett 244:474–500
Severinghaus JP, Brook E (1999) Abrupt climate change at the end of the last glacial period inferred from trapped air in polar ice. Science 286:930–934
Severinghaus J, Sowers T, Brook E et al (1998) Timing of abrupt climate change at the end of the Younger Dryas interval from thermally fractionated gases in polar ice. Nature 391:141–146
Severinghaus JP, Grachev A, Battle M (2001) Thermal fractionation of air in polar firn by seasonal temperature gradients. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 2(7):1048
Severinghaus JP, Grachev A, Luz B et al (2003) A method for precise measurement of argon 40/36 and krypton/argon ratios in trapped air in polar ice with application to past firn thickness and abrupt climate change in Greenland and at Siple Dome, Antarctica. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:325–343
Severinghaus JP, Beaudette RA, Headly M et al (2009) Oxygen-18 of O2 records the impact of abrupt climate change on the terrestrial biosphere. Science 324:1431–1434
Severinghaus JP, Albert MR, Courville ZR et al (2010) Deep air convection in the firn at a zero-accumulation site, central Antarctica. Earth Planet Sci Lett 293:359–367
Sigg A, Fuhrer K, Anklin M et al (1994) A continuous analysis technique for chemical trace species in polar ice cores. Environ Sci Technol 28:204–209
Sowers TA, Bender ML, Raynaud D (1989) Elemental and isotopic composition of occluded O2 and N2 in polar ice. J Geophys Res 94:5137–5150
Sowers TA, Bender ML, Raynaud D et al (1992) The d15N of N2 in air trapped in polar ice: a tracer of gas transport in the firn and a possible constraint on Ice age-Gas age differences. J Geophys Res 97:15683–15697
Voelker A (2002) Global distribution of centennial-scale records for Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3: a database. Quatern Sci Rev 21:1185–1212
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Landais, A. (2012). Stable Isotopes of N and Ar as Tracers to Retrieve Past Air Temperature from Air Trapped in Ice Cores. In: Baskaran, M. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry. Advances in Isotope Geochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10637-8_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10637-8_40
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-10636-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-10637-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)