High-resolution CO2 and N2O records reveal centennial variations

High-resolution records of greenhouse gas from Antarctic and Greenlandic ice cores may help us better understand how greenhouse gas concentration is related with climate changes. In context of centennial changes of the greenhouse gas, however, the integrity of existing ice quality and analytical methods remain not entirely proved. Thus, high-precision records from multiple cores should be compared. Here we present new ice core records with sampling resolution of 10-20 years that cover the last glacial termination and the last 2000 years. The new CO₂ records from Styx and WAIS Divide ice clearly show coincident variations on centennial to multi-centennial timescales during the last 2000 years, although the magnitudes and speeds of concentration changes do not agree well with Law Dome records. During the last glacial termination, our new Siple Dome record shows abrupt CO₂ increases with a rate of ~10 ppm per century, confirming the previous WAIS Divide records. Our new N₂O data from Greenlandic NEEM and Antarctic Styx cores for the first time show centennial variations with an unprecedented precision. Combined with other paleoproxy records, we may better constrain the greenhouse gas control mechanisms.