Abstract:
These data are trace gas measurements of air extracted from ice core samples from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide A core (WAIS-D 05A). This core was dry-drilled at the WAIS site during the 2005-2006 field season. A total of 57 ice core samples were analyzed for nine trace gas species: ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), n-butane (n-C4H10), carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon disulfide (CS2), methyl ... chloride (CH3Cl), methyl bromide (CH3Br), acetonitrile (CH3CN), and chlorofluorocarbon-12 (CFC-12). The analyses were conducted in a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry system at the University of California, Irvine. Details of the ice extraction and analytical methods can be found in Aydin et al., 2007.
The data in this file are currently unpublished and should be considered preliminary. Mixing ratios could reflect the impact of analytical or sampling artifacts in addition to real temporal variations in atmospheric levels of these trace gases. Based on prior studies (Aydin et al., 2008; Saltzman et al., 2009; Williams et al., 2007), it is expected that Antarctic ice cores in general preserve a real atmospheric record of CH3Cl, CH3Br, COS, CS2, and CFC-12. However, there are no prior published ice core records for any of the other compounds reported here. It is not recommended that the light alkane and CH3CN data be interpreted as paleo-atmospheric gas records.
Description:
The U.S research community is conducting a deep ice coring project in West Antarctica for studies of climate, ice sheet history and cryobiology. This project is collecting a deep ice core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) ice flow divide and integrating approximately 20 separate but synergistic projects to analyze the ice and interpret the records.
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City:
Boulder
Province or State:
CO
Postal Code:
80309-0449
Country:
USA
Publications/References
References:
Aydin, M., M. B. Williams, C. Tatum, and E. S. Saltzman (2008), Carbonyl sulfide in air extracted from a South Pole ice core: a 2,000 year record, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 7533-7542, (http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/7533/2008).
Aydin, M., M. B. Williams, and E. S. Saltzman (2007), Feasibility of reconstructing paleoatmospheric records of selected alkanes, ... methyl halides, and sulfur gases from Greenland ice cores, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D07312, doi:10.1029/2006JD008027.
Saltzman, E. S., M. Aydin, C. Tatum, and M. B. Williams (2008), 2,000-year record of atmospheric methyl bromide from a South Pole ice core, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D05304, doi:10.1029/2007JD008919.
Williams, M. B., M. Aydin, C. Tatum, and E. S. Saltzman (2007), A 2000 year atmospheric history of methyl chloride from a South Pole ice core: Evidence for climate-controlled variability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L07811, doi:10.1029/2006GL029142.
