Delta N-15 of N[sub 2] in air trapped in polar ice - a tracer of gas transport in the firn and a possible constraint on ice age-gas age differences
- Rhode Island Univ., Narragansett (United States) CNRS, Lab. de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l'Environnement, St.-Martin-d'Heres (France) Arctic and Antarctic Research Inst., St. Petersburg (Russian Federation)
Factors which influence the distribution of air in present-day firn are examined on the basis of the analysis of delta N-15 of trapped N[sub 2] in 12 ice-core samples taken from Greenland and Antarctica, and this information is used to determine how air may have been mixed in glacial firn. The upper and the lower limits of ice-age/gas-age differences (Delta age) are then calculated for the ice core at the Vostok, the Dome C, and the Byrd locations, and the results are compared with previous estimates. Finally, the surface-temperature and CO[sub 2] records from Byrd and Vostok over the last 30,000 years are compared to provide independent means of establishing the best estimates of the Delta age difference for Vostok, and of the nature of gas transport in firn during the last glacial termination. 39 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6823751
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 97; ISSN 0148-0227
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AIR
DIFFUSION
GLACIERS
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
GREENLAND
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CARBON DIOXIDE
NATURAL CONVECTION
NITROGEN 15
POLAR REGIONS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
CONVECTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAT TRANSFER
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MASS TRANSFER
NITROGEN ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEONTOLOGY
STABLE ISOTOPES
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