Carbonyl sulfide measurements from a South Pole ice core and implications for atmospheric variability since the last glacial period
Name
cp-20-1885-2024.pdf
Description
Published version
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11.1 MB
Format
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Checksum (MD5)
2204cadf1c6c0edb467a183729fd20ca
Author(s)
Aydin, Murat
Nicewonger, Melinda R
Britten, Gregory L
Winski, Dominic
Whelan, Mary
Patterson, John D
Osterberg, Erich
Lee, Christopher F
Harder, Tara
Callahan, Kyle J
Date Issued
August 30, 2024
Journal
Climate of the Past
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Citation
Aydin, M., Nicewonger, M. R., Britten, G. L., Winski, D., Whelan, M., Patterson, J. D., Osterberg, E., Lee, C. F., Harder, T., Callahan, K. J., Ferris, D., and Saltzman, E. S.: Carbonyl sulfide measurements from a South Pole ice core and implications for atmospheric variability since the last glacial period, Clim. Past, 20, 1885–1917.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Carbonyl sulfide (COS) is the most abundant sulfur gas in the atmosphere with links to terrestrial and oceanic productivity. We measured COS in ice core air from an intermediate-depth ice core from the South Pole using both dry and wet extraction methods, recovering a 52 500-year record. We find evidence for COS production in the firn, altering the atmospheric signal preserved in the ice core. Mean sea salt aerosol concentrations from the same depth are a good proxy for the COS production, which disproportionately impacts the measurements from glacial period ice with high sea salt aerosol concentrations. The COS measurements are corrected using sea salt sodium (ssNa) as a proxy for the excess COS resulting from the production. The ssNa-corrected COS record displays substantially less COS in the glacial period atmosphere than the Holocene and a 2 to 4-fold COS rise during the deglaciation synchronous with the associated climate signal. The deglacial COS rise was primarily source driven. Oceanic emissions in the form of COS, carbon disulfide (CS2), and dimethylsulfide (DMS) are collectively the largest natural source of atmospheric COS. A large increase in ocean COS emissions during the deglaciation suggests enhancements in emissions of ocean sulfur gases via processes that involve ocean productivity, although we cannot quantify individual contributions from each gas.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1885-2024
