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AGU: Global Biogeochemical Cycles

 

Keywords

  • C cycle
  • paleoclimate
  • ice cores

Index Terms

  • Biogeosciences: Carbon cycling
  • Biogeosciences: Paleoclimatology and paleoceanography
  • Global Change: Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling
  • Cryosphere: Ice cores

Abstract

GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, VOL. 24, GB2015, 15 PP., 2010
doi:10.1029/2009GB003545

Constraint of the CO2 rise by new atmospheric carbon isotopic measurements during the last deglaciation

Anna Lourantou

Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, Université Joseph Fourier–Grenoble, CNRS, St Martin d'Hères, France

Jošt V. Lavrič

Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, Université Joseph Fourier–Grenoble, CNRS, St Martin d'Hères, France

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, IPSL, Université Versailles-St Quentin, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Peter Köhler

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

Jean-Marc Barnola

Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, Université Joseph Fourier–Grenoble, CNRS, St Martin d'Hères, France

Didier Paillard

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, IPSL, Université Versailles-St Quentin, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Elisabeth Michel

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, IPSL, Université Versailles-St Quentin, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Dominique Raynaud

Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, Université Joseph Fourier–Grenoble, CNRS, St Martin d'Hères, France

Jérôme Chappellaz

Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, Université Joseph Fourier–Grenoble, CNRS, St Martin d'Hères, France

The causes of the ∼80 ppmv increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during the last glacial-interglacial climatic transition remain debated. We analyzed the parallel evolution of CO2 and its stable carbon isotopic ratio (δ13CO2) in the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) Dome C ice core to bring additional constraints. Agreeing well but largely improving the Taylor Dome ice core record of lower resolution, our δ13CO2 record is characterized by a W shape, with two negative δ13CO2 excursions of 0.5‰ during Heinrich 1 and Younger Dryas events, bracketing a positive δ13CO2 peak during the Bølling/Allerød warm period. The comparison with marine records and the outputs of two C cycle box models suggest that changes in Southern Ocean ventilation drove most of the CO2 increase, with additional contributions from marine productivity changes on the initial CO2 rise and δ13CO2 decline and from rapid vegetation buildup during the CO2 plateau of the Bølling/Allerød.

Received 17 April 2009; accepted 29 January 2010; published 17 June 2010.

Citation: Lourantou, A., J. V. Lavrič, P. Köhler, J.-M. Barnola, D. Paillard, E. Michel, D. Raynaud, and J. Chappellaz (2010), Constraint of the CO2 rise by new atmospheric carbon isotopic measurements during the last deglaciation, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 24, GB2015, doi:10.1029/2009GB003545.

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