Continuous flow analysis of labile iron in ice-cores.

The important active and passive role of mineral dust aerosol in the climate and the global carbon cycle over the last glacial/interglacial cycles has been recognized. However, little data on the most important aeolian dust-derived biological micronutrient, iron (Fe), has so far been available from ice-cores from Greenland or Antarctica. Furthermore, Fe deposition reconstructions derived from the palaeoproxies particulate dust and calcium differ significantly from the Fe flux data available. The ability to measure high temporal resolution Fe data in polar ice-cores is crucial for the study of the timing and magnitude of relationships between geochemical events and biological responses in the open ocean. This work adapts an existing flow injection analysis (FIA) methodology for low-level trace Fe determinations with an existing glaciochemical analysis system, continuous flow analysis (CFA) of ice-cores. Fe-induced oxidation of N,N'-dimethyl-p-pheylenediamine (DPD) is used to quantify the biologically more important and easily leachable Fe fraction released in a controlled digestion step at pH ~1.0. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of labile Fe in ice-core samples collected from the Antarctic Byrd ice-core and the Greenland Ice-Core Project (GRIP) ice-core.

Carbon isotope constraints on the deglacial CO2 rise from ice cores.

The stable carbon isotope ratio of atmospheric CO(2) (δ(13)C(atm)) is a key parameter in deciphering past carbon cycle changes. Here we present δ(13)C(atm) data for the past 24,000 years derived from three independent records from two Antarctic ice cores. We conclude that a pronounced 0.3 per mil decrease in δ(13)C(atm) during the early deglaciation can be best explained by upwelling of old, carbon-enriched waters in the Southern Ocean. Later in the deglaciation, regrowth of the terrestrial biosphere, changes in sea surface temperature, and ocean circulation governed the δ(13)C(atm) evolution. During the Last Glacial Maximum, δ(13)C(atm) and atmospheric CO(2) concentration were essentially constant, which suggests that the carbon cycle was in dynamic equilibrium and that the net transfer of carbon to the deep ocean had occurred before then.

Stable isotope constraints on Holocene carbon cycle changes from an Antarctic ice core.

Reconstructions of atmospheric CO(2) concentrations based on Antarctic ice cores reveal significant changes during the Holocene epoch, but the processes responsible for these changes in CO(2) concentrations have not been unambiguously identified. Distinct characteristics in the carbon isotope signatures of the major carbon reservoirs (ocean, biosphere, sediments and atmosphere) constrain variations in the CO(2) fluxes between those reservoirs. Here we present a highly resolved atmospheric delta(13)C record for the past 11,000 years from measurements on atmospheric CO(2) trapped in an Antarctic ice core. From mass-balance inverse model calculations performed with a simplified carbon cycle model, we show that the decrease in atmospheric CO(2) of about 5 parts per million by volume (p.p.m.v.). The increase in delta(13)C of about 0.25 per thousand during the early Holocene is most probably the result of a combination of carbon uptake of about 290 gigatonnes of carbon by the land biosphere and carbon release from the ocean in response to carbonate compensation of the terrestrial uptake during the termination of the last ice age. The 20 p.p.m.v. increase of atmospheric CO(2) and the small decrease in delta(13)C of about 0.05 per thousand during the later Holocene can mostly be explained by contributions from carbonate compensation of earlier land-biosphere uptake and coral reef formation, with only a minor contribution from a small decrease of the land-biosphere carbon inventory.