The Last 41.000 Years Fluctuation in Atmosperic CO2 Concentration Inferred from The Changes in Oxygen and Carbon Stable Isotopes Ratios of The Marine Sediment

Abstract

The past atmospheric CO2 concentrations were reconstructed based on the results of measurements of stable oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios of fossil foraminifer and total organic carbon contained in marine sediment taken from the Okinawa Trough, East China Sea. In this study, we utilized two models of Popp et al and Rau et al. for the reconstruction. The results show that the whole trends of the changes in CO2 concentrations are very similar, even when it is compared to the atmospheric CO2 concentration of air trapped in ice core from southern pole. Changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations are interpreted as a consequence of fluctuation in ocean surface water utilization of CO2 by marine organism and those are closely related to glacial-interglacial (cold-warm) fluctuations between maximum and minimum values through most Quaternary.

Keywords

• reconstruction
• atmospheric co2 concentrations
• stable isotopes
• marine sediment