Affiliation:
1. Department of Geosciences and the EMS Environment Institute, Pennsylvania State University, UniversityPark, PA 16802, USA.
Abstract
Paleoatmospheric records of trace-gas concentrations recovered from ice cores provide important sources of information on many biogeochemical cycles involving carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Here, we present a 106,000-year record of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N
2
O) along with corresponding isotopic records spanning the last 30,000 years, which together suggest minimal changes in the ratio of marine to terrestrial N
2
O production. During the last glacial termination, both marine and oceanic N
2
O emissions increased by 40 ± 8%. We speculate that our records do not support those hypotheses that invoke enhanced export production to explain low carbon dioxide values during glacial periods.
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Reference47 articles.
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2
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