|
| Title: |
A high-precision method for measurement of paleoatmospheric CO2 in small polar ice samples |
| Author: |
Ahn, J., Brook, E. and Howell, K. |
| URL: |
http://www.igsoc.org/journal/55/191/j08j065.pdf
|
| Start Page: |
499 |
| End Page: |
506 |
| Periodical: |
Journal of Glaciology |
| Volume: |
55 |
| Issue: |
191 |
| ISSN/ISBN: |
10.3189/002214309788816731 |
| Abstract: |
We describe a high-precision method, now in use in our laboratory, for measuring the CO2 mixing ratio of ancient air trapped in polar ice cores. Occluded air in ice samples weighing ~8-15 g is liberated by crushing with steel pins at -35 deg C and trapped at -263 deg C in a cryogenic cold trap. CO2 in the extracted air is analyzed using gas chromatography. Replicate measurements for several samples of high-quality ice from the Siple Dome and Taylor Dome Antarctic ice cores have pooled standard deviations of
<0.9 ppm. This high-precision technique is directly applicable to high-temporal-resolution studies for detection of small CO2 variations, for example CO2 variations of a few parts per million on millennial to
decadal scales. |
| Year: |
2009 |
|
|
This site is administered by the WAIS Divide Ice Core Project Science Coordination Office (Desert Research Institute and University of New Hampshire). This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under award OPP-0440817 to the Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.