Triple Oxygen and Clumped Isotope Compositions of CO2 in the Middle Troposphere

Abstract

Abstract We report the oxygen isotopic anomaly (Δ17O) and clumped isotopic composition (Δ47) of CO2 sampled from the middle troposphere (~10 km above ground) during two CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) flights in summer and winter seasons: one from Düsseldorf to Isla Margarita on 11 August 2001 and the other from Puerto Plata to Munich on 21 February 2002. The mid‐tropospheric Δ17O values were higher than the near‐surface values by 0.051 ± 0.010 ‰, indicating enhanced stratospheric influence. The Δ47 values were also higher by 0.160 ± 0.015 ‰ compared to that from the lower troposphere. Stratospheric influence is supported by the observed correlations of the Δ17O values with the mixing ratios of N2O, O3, and 14CO, which carry stratospheric signatures. The increase in the anomaly in the free troposphere represents a balance between the stratosphere‐troposphere exchange fluxes and biogeochemical/hydrospheric isotopic resetting rates at the Earth surface. Using a simple two box model with the free tropospheric Δ17O values, an average surface exchange rate of CO2 between 327 and 772 PgC/year is inferred, giving a CO2 turnover time of 1.4 to 2.8 years in the atmosphere. The present estimates are based on a rather small set of free tropospheric data and have relatively large uncertainties, but they agree with the existing model and proxy‐based estimates.

Keywords

• triple oxygen and clumped isotopes
• CARIBIC
• stratospheric air
• free troposphere
• biospheric flux