What caused the glacial to interglacial CO sub 2 change

Conference · Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5756913

Broecker, W S ^[1]; Peng, Tsung-Hung ^[2]

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1. Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States). Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
2. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

Scenarios put forward to explain the 80 {mu}atm glacial to interglacial change in atmospheric CO{sub 2} content are evaluated. The conclusion is that no single mechanism is adequate. Rather, contributions from temperature, sea ice, biologic pumping, nutrient deepening, and CaCO{sub 3} cycling must be called upon. The observation that the {sup 13}C/{sup 12}C ratio for Antarctic foraminifera was 0.9 {plus minus} 0.1% lower during glacial than during interglacial time constitutes a huge fly in the ointment for all scenarios proposed to date.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF); LLNL; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5756913
• Report Number(s): CONF-9109340-1; ON: DE92007247
• Resource Relation: Conference: 2. Ciocco global cycle meeting, Ciocco (Italy), 8-20 Sep 1991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
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CARBON CYCLE
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SALINITY
ANTARCTICA
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CARBON DIOXIDE
CLIMATES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
GLACIERS
HUMUS
ICE
WATER CHEMISTRY
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
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OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
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540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540320 - Environment
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580000 - Geosciences