Collaborative Research: Continuous Records of Greenhouse Gases and Aerosol Deposition During the Holocene: Testing the Fidelity of New Methods for Reconstructing Atmospheric Change

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The primary goals of the project are to exploit new measurement techniques to evaluate the fidelity of methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxide gas measurements in ice cores as records of atmospheric concentrations and change and to develop a first, high-resolution Northern Hemisphere record of atmospheric methane and carbon monoxide during the past 1400 years free of site- or ice-core-specific artifacts. To understand the influences of burial rate and history, ice impurities, as well as drilling and analytical techniques on ice core gas concentrations, the proposed project will further refine and improve new methods for continuous gas measurements and use these improved methods to analyze gases and aerosols in ice core samples from three widely distributed sites in northern Greenland: Tunu, D4, and NGRIP. All are located in the cold, dry snow zone, but each has a different annual accumulation rate and is influenced by different aerosol sources and transport pathways. Two sites previously were used for firn gas studies which will provide needed controls for firn and gas-entrapment modeling. Archived core samples are available for D4 and NGRIP, but a new core from the Tunu site is required. The proposed measurements will utilize the Desert Research Institute's (DRI's) continuous-flow analysis with trace elements system capable of quantifying dust, sea salt, biomass burning, and volcanic aerosols. This system was recently expanded to include continuous gas measurements being developed and refined by Oregon State University (OSU), DRI, and other international collaborators under an NSF Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) grant primarily focused on student participation and international collaborations rather than research. The proposed project will extend past K-12 and other outreach strategies, including coordination and development of activities with outreach specialists at the Ice Drilling Program Office. Broad outreach will be achieved with the global, radiative, and ice sheet modeling communities, NSTA-related efforts, and public lectures.