Stable isotope enrichment in stratospheric nitrous oxide
- Univ. of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that also plays a role in the cycling of stratospheric ozone. Air samples from the lower stratosphere exhibit {sup 15}N/{sup 14}N and {sup 18}O/{sup 16}O enrichment in nitrous oxide, which can be accounted for with a simple model describing an irreversible destruction process. The observed enrichments are quite large and incompatible with those determined for the main stratospheric nitrous oxide loss processes of photolysis and reaction with excited atomic oxygen. Thus, although no stratospheric source needs to be invoked, the data indicate that present understanding of stratospheric nitrous oxide chemistry is incomplete. 21 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.
- OSTI ID:
- 569483
- Journal Information:
- Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 5344 Vol. 278; ISSN SCIEAS; ISSN 0036-8075
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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