The atmospheric CH4 increase since the Last Glacial Maximum: (1). Source estimates | Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology (original) (raw)

Original Research Papers

The atmospheric CH4 increase since the Last Glacial Maximum: (1). Source estimates

• Jérôme A. Chappellaz
• Inez Y. Fung
• Anne M. Thompson

Abstract

An estimate of the distribution of wetland area and associated CH4 emission is presented for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 18 kyr BP, kiloyear Before Present) and the Pre-Industrial Holocene (PIH, 9000–200 years BP). The wetland source, combined with estimates of the other biogenic sources and sink, yields total source strengths of 120 and 180 Tg CH4/yr for LGM and PIH respectively. These source strengths are shown to be consistent with source estimates inferred from a photochemical model, and point to changes in wetland CH4 source as a major factor driving the atmospheric CH4 increase from LGM to PIH.

Submitted on Mar 27, 1992

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