Browsing by Author "Thornton, DP"
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- Item14-CO in glacial ice from Law Dome, Antarctica as a tracer of changes in atmospheric OH abundance from 1870 AD to present(Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2021-11-15) Smith, AM; Neff, PD; Petrenko, VV; Etheridge, DM; Crosier, EM; Hmiel, B; Thornton, DP; Jong, LM; Beaudette, R; Harth, CM; Langenfelds, RL; Mitrevski, B; Curran, MAJ; Buizert, C; Murray, LT; Trudinger, CM; Dyonisius, MN; Ng, J; Severinghaus, JP; Weiss, RFHydroxyl, OH, is the main tropospheric oxidant and determines the lifetime of methane and most other trace gases in the atmosphere, thereby controlling the amount of greenhouse warming produced by these gases. Changes in OH concentration ([OH]) in response to large changes in reactive trace gas emissions (which may occur in the future) are uncertain. Measurements of 14C containing carbon monoxide (14CO) and other tracers such as methyl chloroform over the last ≈25 years have been successfully used to monitor changes in average [OH], but there are no observational constraints on [OH] further back in time. Reconstructions of 14CO from ice cores could in principle provide such constraints but are complicated by in-situ production of 14CO by cosmic rays directly in the ice. Recent work in Antarctica and Greenland shows that this in-situ component would be relatively small and can be accurately corrected for at sites with very high snow accumulation rates. A joint US and Australian team sampled and measured firn air and ice at Law Dome, Antarctica (2018-19 season, site DE08-OH, 1.2 m a-1 ice-equivalent snow accumulation), to a maximum depth of 240 m. Trapped air was extracted from the ice using an onsite large-volume ice melting system. Preliminary comparisons of methane measured in the samples to existing ice core records and atmospheric measurements suggest ice core air sample ages spanning from the 1870s to the early 2000s. Firn-air samples from the snow surface to 81 m depth capture air from the early 2000s to present. Analyses of [CO] and halocarbons in the samples show a relatively low and stable procedural CO blank and demonstrate that the samples are unaffected by ambient air inclusion. 14CO analyses in these firn and ice core air samples have been successfully completed. Corrections for in-situ 14CO production, validated against direct atmospheric measurements for the more recent samples, have allowed us to develop a preliminary 14CO history. This history will be interpreted with the aid of the GEOS-Chem chemistry-transport model to place the first observational constraints on the variability of Southern Hemisphere [OH] since ≈1870 AD. © The Authors
- ItemThe 14CO2 bomb pulse in firn air at Aurora Basin, East Antarctica(Australian Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (APICS) Workshop, 2016-03-07) Thornton, DP; Etheridge, DM; Trudinger, CM; Rubino, M; Smith, AM; Curran, MAJ; Vance, TR; Chappellaz, JThe 14C isotope of CO2 produced in the atmosphere by nuclear weapons testing in the 1960’s is incorporated in air in open pores of firn before close-off in bubbles in Antarctic ice. The rapid growth and subsequent decline provides a unique test for the smoothing of atmospheric CO2 signals due to firn diffusion and bubble close off, and the level of smoothing quantifies the time resolution with which trace gas histories can be reconstructed from ice cores. The presence of a ‘bomb pulse’ in the record also permits accurate dating of CO2 and other gases in air. Aurora Basin North (ABN) will contribute new and valuable 2000-year atmospheric records from this data sparse region of inland East Antarctica. ABN has an annual snow accumulation up to 150 kgm-2 year-1, a low mean annual temperature and high elevation. Firn air samples were collected from ABN during December 2013 in stainless-steel canisters and cylinders and 0.5L glass flasks, from varying depths covering the whole firn column at the ABN site. Extraction of CO2 from ABN samples has been performed at the CSIRO ICELAB and transferred to ANSTO to derive the 14C activity of CO2 in ABN firn air. As expected, results suggest the age spread at ABN is wider than sites with higher accumulation, such as Law Dome. Firn modelling is also planned and the 14C results will be used as inputs for the modelling to help determine (with other gas measurements) the age and age spread of air in firn and ice at ABN.
- ItemLaw Dome 14CH4 measurements confirm revised fossil methane emissions estimates(Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2021-11-17) Etheridge, DM; Petrenko, VA; Smith, AM; Neff, PD; Hmiel, B; Trudinger, CM; Crosier, EM; Thornton, DP; Langefelds, RL; Jong, LM; Harth, CM; Mitrevski, B; Buizert, C; Yang, B; Weiss, RF; Severinghaus, JPMethane is a powerful greenhouse gas and has significant roles in the chemistry of the atmosphere. Its global concentration has risen by 240% since 1750 AD. Atmospheric 14CH4 is an independent and potentially unambiguous tracer of fossil CH4 emissions from anthropogenic and natural geologic sources, however 14C from nuclear weapons tests and 14CH4 from nuclear power plants complicate its interpretation after the late 1950s. Measurements before then rely on air extracted from polar ice and firn. Hmiel et al. (Nature, 2020) measured 14CH4 in air extracted from firn and ice in Greenland and Antarctica and found that the natural global fossil CH4 source is very small (<6 Tg CH4 yr-1). This is inconsistent with bottom-up geological CH4 emissions estimates (40-60 Tg CH4 yr-1) and implies a significant upward revision of anthropogenic fossil source emissions, emphasising the need for further measurements. We present new 14CH4 measurements of air extracted from the high accumulation site DE08-OH on the Law Dome ice sheet in 2018/19, including firn air to 81 m depth and large ice samples combined from parallel ice cores to 240 m. Measurements of trace gases confirm that the samples were uncontaminated and only minor corrections are required for sample processing. The correction for cosmogenic in-situ production of 14CH4 is very small at DE08-OH due to its high accumulation rate and relatively low elevation. The new 14CH4 results compare closely with the previous measurements from the other sites. An atmospheric 14CH4 history is reconstructed from inverse modelling of the combined ice and firn data. The pre-industrial 14CH4 level is almost identical to that expected from contemporaneous biogenic sources, confirming very minor natural fossil CH4 emissions. 14CH4 decreases to a minimum in about 1940 as anthropogenic fossil methane is emitted followed by an increase during the nuclear era from 1950 to present. The record since the 1950s would allow the evolution of the anthropogenic fossil source to be quantified when improved nuclear 14CH4 emissions estimates become available. The larger emissions from anthropogenic fossil sources implied by this result highlight opportunities for methane emissions reductions. © The Authors
- ItemLaw Dome 14CH4 measurements confirm revised fossil methane emissions estimates(American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2021-12-17) Etheridge, DM; Petrenko, VA; Smith, AM; Neff, PD; Hmiel, B; Trudinger, CM; Crosier, EM; Thornton, DP; Langenfelds, RL; Jong, LM; Harth, CM; Mitrevski, B; Buizert, C; Yang, B; Weiss, RF; Severinghaus, JPMethane is a powerful greenhouse gas and has significant roles in the chemistry of the atmosphere. Its global concentration has risen by 240% since 1750 AD. Atmospheric 14CH4 is an independent and potentially unambiguous tracer of fossil CH4 emissions from anthropogenic and natural geologic sources, however 14C from nuclear weapons tests and 14CH4 from nuclear power plants complicate its interpretation after the late 1950s. Measurements before then rely on air extracted from polar ice and firn. Hmiel et al. (Nature, 2020) measured 14CH4 in air extracted from firn and ice in Greenland and Antarctica and found that the natural global fossil CH4 source is very small (<6 Tg CH4 yr-1). This is inconsistent with bottom-up geological CH4 emissions estimates (40-60 Tg CH4 yr-1) and implies a significant upward revision of anthropogenic fossil source emissions, emphasising the need for further measurements. We present new 14CH4 measurements of air extracted from the high accumulation site DE08-OH on the Law Dome ice sheet in 2018/19, including firn air to 81 m depth and large ice samples combined from parallel ice cores to 240 m. Measurements of trace gases confirm that the samples were uncontaminated and only minor corrections are required for sample processing. The correction for cosmogenic in-situ production of 14CH4 is very small at DE08-OH due to its high accumulation rate and relatively low elevation. The new 14CH4 results compare closely with the previous measurements from the other sites. An atmospheric 14CH4 history is reconstructed from inverse modelling of the combined ice and firn data. The pre-industrial 14CH4 level is almost identical to that expected from contemporaneous biogenic sources, confirming very minor natural fossil CH4 emissions. 14CH4 decreases to a minimum in about 1940 as anthropogenic fossil methane is emitted followed by an increase during the nuclear era from 1950 to present. The record since the 1950s would allow the evolution of the anthropogenic fossil source to be quantified when improved nuclear 14CH4 emissions estimates become available. The larger emissions from anthropogenic fossil sources implied by this result highlight opportunities for methane emissions reductions.
- ItemNatural and anthropogenic changes in atmospheric greenhouse gases over the past 2 millennia(Australian Antarctic Division, 2013-06-24) Etheridge, DM; Rubino, M; Trudinger, CM; Allison, CE; Steele, LP; Thornton, DP; Vollmer, M; Krummel, PB; Smith, AM; Curran, MAJ; Sturgess, WTMillennial changes in atmospheric trace gas composition are best determined from air enclosed in ice sheets. Air extracted from the open pores in firn and the bubbles in ice is measured to derive the past concentrations and isotopic ratios of the long lived trace gases. The significant increases observed in CO2, CH4 and N2O since about 1750 and the more recent appearance of synthetic gases such as the CFCs in the atmosphere are a key feature of the anthropocene. The millennia preceding the anthropocene, the Late Pre-Industrial Holocene (LPIH), show evidence of natural changes in trace gases that can be used to constrain models and improve their ability to predict future changes under scenarios of anthropogenic emissions and climate change. Precise measurements and ice core air samples that are accurately dated and highly resolved in time are required to record the small and rapid trace gas signals of this period. The atmospheric composition records produced by CSIRO and collaborators using the Law Dome, Antarctica ice cores are widely used in models of climate, atmospheric chemistry and the carbon cycle over the anthropocene and the LPIH. Results from these studies have been influential in informing global policies, including the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols. We will present the recently revised trace gas records from Law Dome and new measurements of tracers from these and other ice sites that reveal the causes of atmospheric changes over the anthropocene and the LPIH.
- ItemA preliminary record of changes in Southern Hemisphere atmospheric OH abundance from 14CO in glacial ice (Law Dome, Antarctica, 1870 AD to present)(American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2021-12-17) Neff, PD; Petrenko, VV; Etheridge, DM; Smith, AM; Crosier, EM; Hmiel, B; Thornton, DP; Jong, LM; Beaudette, R; Harth, CM; Langenfelds, RL; Mitrevski, B; Curran, MAJ; Buizert, C; Murray, LT; Trudinger, CM; Dyonisius, MN; Ng, J; Severinghaus, JP; Weiss, RFHydroxyl, OH, is the main tropospheric oxidant and determines the lifetime of methane and most other trace gases in the atmosphere, thereby controlling the amount of greenhouse warming produced by these gases. Changes in OH concentration ([OH]) in response to large changes in reactive trace gas emissions (which may occur in the future) are uncertain. Measurements of 14C-containing carbon monoxide (14CO) and other tracers such as methyl chloroform over the last ≈25 years have been successfully used to monitor changes in average [OH], but there are no observational constraints on [OH] further back in time. Reconstructions of 14CO from ice cores at sites with very high snow accumulation rates can provide such constraints, as rapid snow burial limits in-situ production of 14CO by cosmic rays directly in the ice. A joint US and Australian team sampled and measured firn air and ice at Law Dome, Antarctica (2018-19 season, site DE08-OH, 1.2 m a-1 ice-equivalent snow accumulation), to a maximum depth of 240 m. Trapped air was extracted from the ice using an on-site large-volume ice melting system. Preliminary comparisons of methane measured in the samples to existing ice core records and atmospheric measurements suggest ice core air sample ages spanning from the 1870s to the early 2000s. Firn-air samples from the snow surface to 81 m depth capture air from the early 2000s to present. Analyses of [CO] and halocarbons in the samples show a relatively low and stable procedural CO blank and demonstrate that the samples are unaffected by ambient air inclusion. 14CO analyses in these firn and ice core air samples have been successfully completed. Corrections for in-situ 14CO production, validated against direct atmospheric measurements for the more recent samples, have allowed us to develop a preliminary 14CO history. This history will be interpreted with the aid of the GEOS-Chem chemistry-transport model to place the first observational constraints on the variability of Southern Hemisphere [OH] since ≈1870 AD.
- ItemRevised records of atmospheric trace gases CO2, CH4, N2O, and δ13C-CO2 over the last 2000 years from Law Dome, Antarctica(Copernicus Publications, 2019-04-11) Rubino, M; Etheridge, DM; Thornton, DP; Howden, R; Allison, CE; Francey, RJ; Langenfelds, RL; Steele, LP; Trudinger, CM; Spencer, DA; Curran, MAJ; van Ommen, TD; Smith, AMIce core records of the major atmospheric greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) and their isotopologues covering recent centuries provide evidence of biogeochemical variations during the Late Holocene and pre-industrial periods and over the transition to the industrial period. These records come from a number of ice core and firn air sites and have been measured in several laboratories around the world and show common features but also unresolved differences. Here we present revised records, including new measurements, performed at the CSIRO Ice Core Extraction LABoratory (ICELAB) on air samples from ice obtained at the high-accumulation site of Law Dome (East Antarctica). We are motivated by the increasing use of the records by the scientific community and by recent data-handling developments at CSIRO ICELAB. A number of cores and firn air samples have been collected at Law Dome to provide high-resolution records overlapping recent, direct atmospheric observations. The records have been updated through a dynamic link to the calibration scales used in the Global Atmospheric Sampling LABoratory (GASLAB) at CSIRO, which are periodically revised with information from the latest calibration experiments. The gas-age scales have been revised based on new ice-age scales and the information derived from a new version of the CSIRO firn diffusion model. Additionally, the records have been revised with new, rule-based selection criteria and updated corrections for biases associated with the extraction procedure and the effects of gravity and diffusion in the firn. All measurements carried out in ICELAB–GASLAB over the last 25 years are now managed through a database (the ICElab dataBASE or ICEBASE), which provides consistent data management, automatic corrections and selection of measurements, and a web-based user interface for data extraction. We present the new records, discuss their strengths and limitations, and summarise their main features. The records reveal changes in the carbon cycle and atmospheric chemistry over the last 2 millennia, including the major changes of the anthropogenic era and the smaller, mainly natural variations beforehand. They provide the historical data to calibrate and test the next inter-comparison of models used to predict future climate change (Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project – phase 6, CMIP6). The datasets described in this paper, including spline fits, are available at https://doi.org/10.25919/5bfe29ff807fb (Rubino et al., 2019). © Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
- ItemSpeculation on the origin of sub-baseline excursions of CH4 at Cape Grim(NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, 2016-01-01) Loh, ZM; Krummel, PB; Gregory, RL; Steele, LP; Stavert, AR; Schoot, MVVD; Spencer, DA; Mitrevski, B; Thornton, DP; Galbally, IE; Ward, JZ; Somerville, NT; Chambers, SD; Williams, AGThe Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) program has historically measured in situ methane (CH4 ) at Cape Grim via gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) in 40 minutely grab samples. By adding continuous, high precision in situ measurements of CH4 (Picarro cavity ring-down spectroscopy [CRDS]) at both Cape Grim, Tasmania, and Casey, Antarctica, a new feature has become apparent in the Cape Grim CH4 record. During the austral summer (December to February), the Cape Grim CH4 record periodically drops below baseline. For example, in Figure 1, a number of sustained episodes of depressed CH4 concentration can be seen below the baseline selected data shown in red. Notably, these episodes are also seen in the GC-FID record. In this presentation, we examine these sub-baseline excursions of CH4 . In conjunction with meteorology and a variety of other chemical species measured at Cape Grim, including radon, ozone, hydrogen and ethane, we speculate on a number of possible mechanisms that might be responsible for these dips in CH4 mixing ratio.