Gas isotopes in ice reveal a vegetated central Greenland during ice sheet invasion

Roland Souchez (1) , Jean Jouzel (2, 3) , Amaelle Landais (2, 3, 4) , Jérôme Chappellaz (5) , Reginald Lorrain (1) , J. L. Tison (1)

1 Laboratoire de Glaciologie
2 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
3 GLACCIOS - Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables
4 Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, A. Safra Campus, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel
5 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement

Environmental conditions prevailing during build-up of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) are not yet established. Here we use results from gas isotopes from basal ice of the GRIP ice core to show that central Greenland was vegetated during invasion by the ice sheet. The δ 13CCH4 and δ 18O of O2 values obtained were never encountered before in ice core studies. Such values are indeed the signature of a significant biological activity.

Domains: Glaciology

Roland Souchez, Jean Jouzel, Amaelle Landais, Jérôme Chappellaz, Reginald Lorrain, et al.. Gas isotopes in ice reveal a vegetated central Greenland during ice sheet invasion. Geophysical Research Letters, 2006, 33 (24), ⟨10.1029/2006GL028424⟩. ⟨insu-00375763⟩