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Wetlands at the Last Glacial Maximum: Distribution and methane emissions
Author(s) -
Kaplan Jed O.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013366
Subject(s) - last glacial maximum , wetland , environmental science , atmospheric methane , sink (geography) , soil water , ecosystem , soil carbon , methane , climate change , glacial period , interglacial , hydrology (agriculture) , atmospheric sciences , physical geography , greenhouse gas , geology , soil science , ecology , oceanography , geomorphology , geography , cartography , geotechnical engineering , biology
The global distribution of potential wetlands and their methane (CH 4 ) emissions at the present‐day and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are estimated using a GCM simulation of LGM climate, a vegetation model, and simple algorithms for determining wetland area based on topography and soil moisture, and CH 4 emissions based on ecosystem carbon turnover in wet soils. LGM wetland area was 15% larger than present, but CH 4 emissions were 24% less. Extensive wetlands were simulated on the exposed continental shelves. The soil CH 4 sink was simulated as 14 Tg now but <0.5 Tg at the LGM. CH 4 emissions at LGM were limited by substrate availability, in turn due to low atmospheric CO 2 . The glacial‐interglacial change in atmospheric CH 4 concentration cannot be completely attributed to changes in the wetland source.