Atmospheric CO 2 Concentrations over the Last Glacial Termination

Abstract

A record of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration during the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene, obtained from the Dome Concordia, Antarctica, ice core, reveals that an increase of 76 parts per million by volume occurred over a period of 6000 years in four clearly distinguishable intervals. The close correlation between CO 2 concentration and Antarctic temperature indicates that the Southern Ocean played an important role in causing the CO 2 increase. However, the similarity of changes in CO 2 concentration and variations of atmospheric methane concentration suggests that processes in the tropics and in the Northern Hemisphere, where the main sources for methane are located, also had substantial effects on atmospheric CO 2 concentrations.