Dominique Raynaud

Bio: Dominique Raynaud is an academic researcher from University of Rhode Island. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ice core & Dome (geology). The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 19 publications receiving 3211 citations.

High-resolution record of Northern Hemisphere climate extending into the last interglacial period.

Abstract: High-resolution record of Northern Hemisphere climate extending into the last interglacial period

The age of the air in the firn and the ice at Summit, Greenland

Abstract: In the framework of the Eurocore drilling project 1989 at Summit, Central Greenland, air samples were collected from a drill hole in the firn at several depth levels. The samples have been analyzed for 85Kr, CO2, CH4, CFC's (F-11 and F-12) contents and for the isotopic composition of nitrogen and oxygen. The measured data are compared with the results of a diffusion model. CO2, for example, takes 12 years (with a standard deviation of 7.5 years) to diffuse from the surface to the firn-ice transition under the present climatic conditions at Summit. The difference between the age of the ice and the mean age of the occluded air is approximately 210 years. An enrichment of the heavier isotopes due to separation by gravity has been observed. Molecular diffusion alone suffices to explain the observed concentration trends in the firn column. We can, however, not exclude the existence of a convective zone below the surface. We have also measured the density and closed porosity along the firn core that has been retrieved when drilling the hole. The porosity data reveal that the air is occluded into bubbles mainly between 65 and 80 m, corresponding to densities of 790 and 830 kg/m3, respectively.

Vostok ice core: climatic response to CO2 and orbital forcing changes over the last climatic cycle

Abstract: Vostok climate and CO2 records suggest that CO2 changes have had an important climatic role during the late Pleistocene in amplifying the relatively weak orbital forcing. The existence of the 100-kyr cycle and the synchronism between Northern and Southern Hemisphere climates may have their origin in the large glacial–interglacial CO2 changes.

Elemental and isotopic composition of occluded O2 and N2 in polar ice

Abstract: A procedure has been developed to measure the relative concentrations of N2, O2, Ar, the δ18O of O2, and the δ15N of N2 trapped in Antarctic and Greenland ice cores. To date, we have analyzed 13 samples of trapped air in recent (<2200 years B.P.) ice from eight sites. The composition of the trapped gases was determined by mass spectrometry and the results expressed in delta notation relative to the present-day atmosphere. The average δ15N of N2 and δ18O of O2 in samples from the various ice cores ranged from +0.05 to +0.41‰ and from +0.18 to +1.1‰, respectively. The heavy isotope enrichments are apparently due to gravitational settling accompanying diffusive equilibrium between the base of the firn and the overlying atmosphere. The δO2/Ar and δN2/Ar values ranged from −9.2 to +1.0‰ and from −4.8 to +4.6‰, respectively. The differences between the elemental composition of ice core trapped gases and air result from gravitational fractionation, as well as separation of O2 and Ar relative to N2 during either bubble close-off or retrieval and storage of the ice cores.

Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica

Abstract: The recent completion of drilling at Vostok station in East Antarctica has allowed the extension of the ice record of atmospheric composition and climate to the past four glacial–interglacial cycles. The succession of changes through each climate cycle and termination was similar, and atmospheric and climate properties oscillated between stable bounds. Interglacial periods differed in temporal evolution and duration. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane correlate well with Antarctic air-temperature throughout the record. Present-day atmospheric burdens of these two important greenhouse gases seem to have been unprecedented during the past 420,000 years.

Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica

Abstract: The recent completion of drilling at Vostok station in East Antarctica has allowed the extension of the ice record of atmospheric composition and climate to the past four glacial–interglacial cycles. The succession of changes through each climate cycle and termination was similar, and atmospheric and climate properties oscillated between stable bounds. Interglacial periods differed in temporal evolution and duration. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane correlate well with Antarctic air-temperature throughout the record. Present-day atmospheric burdens of these two important greenhouse gases seem to have been unprecedented during the past 420,000 years.

The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0-55 cal kBP)

Abstract: Radiocarbon (14C) ages cannot provide absolutely dated chronologies for archaeological or paleoenvironmental studies directly but must be converted to calendar age equivalents using a calibration curve compensating for fluctuations in atmospheric 14C concentration. Although calibration curves are constructed from independently dated archives, they invariably require revision as new data become available and our understanding of the Earth system improves. In this volume the international 14C calibration curves for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as for the ocean surface layer, have been updated to include a wealth of new data and extended to 55,000 cal BP. Based on tree rings, IntCal20 now extends as a fully atmospheric record to ca. 13,900 cal BP. For the older part of the timescale, IntCal20 comprises statistically integrated evidence from floating tree-ring chronologies, lacustrine and marine sediments, speleothems, and corals. We utilized improved evaluation of the timescales and location variable 14C offsets from the atmosphere (reservoir age, dead carbon fraction) for each dataset. New statistical methods have refined the structure of the calibration curves while maintaining a robust treatment of uncertainties in the 14C ages, the calendar ages and other corrections. The inclusion of modeled marine reservoir ages derived from a three-dimensional ocean circulation model has allowed us to apply more appropriate reservoir corrections to the marine 14C data rather than the previous use of constant regional offsets from the atmosphere. Here we provide an overview of the new and revised datasets and the associated methods used for the construction of the IntCal20 curve and explore potential regional offsets for tree-ring data. We discuss the main differences with respect to the previous calibration curve, IntCal13, and some of the implications for archaeology and geosciences ranging from the recent past to the time of the extinction of the Neanderthals.

The Anthropocene: are humans now overwhelming the great forces of Nature?

Abstract: We explore the development of the Anthropocene, the current epoch in which humans and our societies have become a global geophysical force. The Anthropocene began around 1800 with the onset of industrialization, the central feature of which was the enormous expansion in the use of fossil fuels. We use atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as a single, simple indicator to track the progression of the Anthropocene. From a preindustrial value of 270-275 ppm, atmospheric carbon dioxide had risen to about 310 ppm by 1950. Since then the human enterprise has experienced a remarkable explosion, the Great Acceleration, with significant consequences for Earth System functioning. Atmospheric CO2 concentration has risen from 310 to 380 ppm since 1950, with about half of the total rise since the preindustrial era occurring in just the last 30 years. The Great Acceleration is reaching criticality. Whatever unfolds, the next few decades will surely be a tipping point in the evolution of the Anthropocene.

The holocene Asian monsoon : links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate

Abstract: A 5-year-resolution absolute-dated oxygen isotope record from Dongge Cave, southern China, provides a continuous history of the Asian monsoon over the past 9000 years. Although the record broadly follows summer insolation, it is punctuated by eight weak monsoon events lasting approximately 1 to 5 centuries. One correlates with the "8200-year" event, another with the collapse of the Chinese Neolithic culture, and most with North Atlantic ice-rafting events. Cross-correlation of the decadal- to centennial-scale monsoon record with the atmospheric carbon-14 record shows that some, but not all, of the monsoon variability at these frequencies results from changes in solar output.