Macalester Professor Discovers CO2 Stored in Deep Pacific During
Ice Age November 30, 2010 RELATED STORIES: Macalester professor
finds clues about ocean circulation affecting climate change
RELATED PROGRAMS: Environmental Studies St. Paul, Minn. –
Paleoclimatologists have long wondered why atmospheric CO2 was
so much lower during the last glacial period. Where did the
carbon go? Macalester Environmental Studies Professor Louisa
Bradtmiller demonstrates, in a new paper, that the deep Pacific
Ocean (below 2000 meters) likely stored more carbon during the
last glacial period than the Holocene (the last 10,000 years of
the Earth's history -- the time since the end of the last major
glacial epoch, or "ice age."). It is well known that atmospheric
pCO2 was approximately 80 ppm lower during the last glacial
period than during pre-industrial times, but where the carbon
was stored during the ice age has been difficult to identify.
Bradtmiller is the lead author of a paper that presents evidence
from 10 equatorial Paci