Glacial-interglacial excursion in the concentration of atmospheric CO2: effect in the 13C/12C ratio in wood cellulose

R. V. Krishnamurthy; S. Epstein

doi:10.3402/tellusb.v42i5.15237

Glacial-interglacial excursion in the concentration of atmospheric CO2: effect in the 13C/12C ratio in wood cellulose

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 42 (1990): Issue 5

By: R. V. Krishnamurthy and S. Epstein

Open Access

|Jan 1990

Abstract

Stable carbon isotope ratios (¹³C/¹²C) of cellulose extracted from wood belonging to the last glacial-maximum period (20 ± 2k yr) is on the average 4‰ higher than that for the corresponding ratios from the recent interglacial age, and could not be the result of any changes in humidity or temperature alone. This temporal variation of δ¹³C in wood cellulose corresponds chronologically to the reduced concentration of atmospheric CO₂ measured in glacial ice cores, thus providing the first direct evidence of the effect of reduced atmospheric CO₂ concentration on land biota. The higher δ¹³C in wood cellulose and the manner in which it varies with time could be explained if, in addition to causes introduced by a changing ocean chemistry during glacial time, there is an additional carbon reservoir created by vegetation flourishing in the newly exposed land surfaces accompanying a lowering of the sea level.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v42i5.15237 | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 423 - 434

Submitted on: Sep 13, 1988

Accepted on: Apr 19, 1990

Published on: Jan 1, 1990

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 1990 R. V. Krishnamurthy, S. Epstein, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 42 (1990): Issue 5