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Millennial‐Scale Changes in Terrestrial and Marine Nitrous Oxide Emissions at the Onset and Termination of Marine Isotope Stage 4
Author(s) -
Menking J. A.,
Brook E. J.,
Schilt A.,
Shackleton S.,
Dyonisius M.,
Severinghaus J. P.,
Petrenko V. V.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl089110
Subject(s) - nitrous oxide , terrestrial plant , marine isotope stage , isotope , oceanography , terrestrial ecosystem , environmental science , stage (stratigraphy) , stable isotope ratio , atmospheric sciences , environmental chemistry , geology , chemistry , glacial period , ecology , ecosystem , biology , geomorphology , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , interglacial
Ice core measurements of the concentration and stable isotopic composition of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N 2 O) 74,000–59,000 years ago constrain marine and terrestrial emissions. The data include two major Dansgaard‐Oeschger (D‐O) events and the N 2 O decrease during global cooling at the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a‐4 transition. The N 2 O increase associated with D‐O 19 (~73–71.5 ka) was driven by equal contributions from marine and terrestrial emissions. The N 2 O decrease during the transition into MIS 4 (~71.5–67.5 ka) was caused by gradual reductions of similar magnitude in both marine and terrestrial sources. A 50 ppb increase in N 2 O concentration at the end of MIS 4 was caused by gradual increases in marine and terrestrial emissions between ~64 and 61 ka, followed by an abrupt increase in marine emissions at the onset of D‐O 16/17 (59.5 ka). This suggests that the importance of marine versus terrestrial emissions in controlling millennial‐scale N 2 O fluctuations varied in time.