Antarctic surface temperature and elevation during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Water-stable isotopes in polar ice cores are a widely used temperature proxy in paleoclimate reconstruction, yet calibration remains challenging in East Antarctica. Here, we reconstruct the magnitude and spatial pattern of Last Glacial Maximum surface cooling in Antarctica using borehole thermometry and firn properties in seven ice cores. West Antarctic sites cooled ~10°C relative to the preindustrial period.

Abrupt CO release to the atmosphere under glacial and early interglacial climate conditions.

Pulse-like carbon dioxide release to the atmosphere on centennial time scales has only been identified for the most recent glacial and deglacial periods and is thought to be absent during warmer climate conditions. Here, we present a high-resolution carbon dioxide record from 330,000 to 450,000 years before present, revealing pronounced carbon dioxide jumps (CDJ) under cold and warm climate conditions. CDJ come in two varieties that we attribute to invigoration or weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and associated northward and southward shifts of the intertropical convergence zone, respectively.

Isotopic constraint on the twentieth-century increase in tropospheric ozone.

Tropospheric ozone (O) is a key component of air pollution and an important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. During the twentieth century, the proliferation of the internal combustion engine, rapid industrialization and land-use change led to a global-scale increase in O concentrations; however, the magnitude of this increase is uncertain. Atmospheric chemistry models typically predict an increase in the tropospheric O burden of between 25 and 50 per cent since 1900, whereas direct measurements made in the late nineteenth century indicate that surface O mixing ratios increased by up to 300 per cent over that time period.

Sub-Ocean: Subsea Dissolved Methane Measurements Using an Embedded Laser Spectrometer Technology.

We present a novel instrument, the Sub-Ocean probe, allowing in situ and continuous measurements of dissolved methane in seawater. It relies on an optical feedback cavity enhanced absorption technique designed for trace gas measurements and coupled to a patent-pending sample extraction method. The considerable advantage of the instrument compared with existing ones lies in its fast response time of the order of 30 s, that makes this probe ideal for fast and continuous 3D-mapping of dissolved methane in water.

Glacial/interglacial wetland, biomass burning, and geologic methane emissions constrained by dual stable isotopic CH ice core records.

Atmospheric methane (CH) records reconstructed from polar ice cores represent an integrated view on processes predominantly taking place in the terrestrial biogeosphere. Here, we present dual stable isotopic methane records [δCH and δD(CH)] from four Antarctic ice cores, which provide improved constraints on past changes in natural methane sources. Our isotope data show that tropical wetlands and seasonally inundated floodplains are most likely the controlling sources of atmospheric methane variations for the current and two older interglacials and their preceding glacial maxima.