N2O measurements of air extracted from antarctic ice cores: Implication on atmospheric N2O back to the last glacial-interglacial transition

A method has been developed for determining the N₂O concentrations of air bubbles trapped in ice cores. The air is removed by cutting ice samples of about 45 cm³ with a rotating knife, under pure nitrogen. About 2 cm³ of the gas extracted from the ice is analyzed. The N₂O concentrations are measured by gas chromatography, using electron capture detection with a detection limit of approximately 1 ppbv. The accuracy of the analysis is lower than 6%.This method has been used to analyze 34 Antarctic ice samples. Twelve air samples are from the D57 core and date approximately from AD 1600 and 1900. Data indicate a concentration of about 270 ppbv approximately 400 years ago, and of about 293 ppbv for the beginning of the 20th Century. The other samples have been taken from the Dome C core and date back to the time period extending from the Holocene to the Last Glacial Maximum. The results obtained for the Holocene period are in very good agreement with the concentrations measured for the pre-industrial time from the D57 core and indicate that, during the Holocene period, atmospheric N₂O mixing ratios may have remained fairly constant. The value observed during the last climatic transition suggest a slight increase in the N₂O concentrations when the climate was warming up. The results obtained on samples formed during the Last Glacial Maximum show high scattering which is best explained by the bad quality of this part of the core.