Tromsø will soon be one of few places in the world where scientists can analyze clumped isotopes. The groundbreaking method allows for more precise reconstruction of past climate changes, and will be performed with the new mass spectrometer currently being installed at CAGE.
Text: Maja Sojtaric
Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at UiT The Arctic University of Norway will this fall finalize installation of a new mass spectrometer. The instrument will eventually enable scientists to do analysis of so called clumped isotopes, a method that makes, among other parameters, carbon dating much more precise.
This relatively new method is a game changer when it comes to precise measurements of temperatures of the past. This makes reconstruction of past climate (paleoclimate) more accurate.
In short it is the best thermometer we have for interpreting past climate change.
“Not only that,” says associate professor Giuliana Panieri, “it was recently discovered that this type of analysis is useful for detecting the natural sources of methane.”
Methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases and influences current global warming through both natural emissions as well as emissions from human activities. There are three potential sources of methane in the Arctic: biogenic, thermogenic and abiotic. Defining the source makes it possible to figure out how methane is formed and distributed: through the decomposition of organic matter or through reactions between the earth´s crust and the mantel. That in turn helps scientists account for amounts of this highly potent climate gas, which may be hidden beneath the seabed in the Arctic Ocean.
“Isotopic measurements are the base of various climate investigations that we conduct at CAGE. They help us reconstruct environmental and climate conditions of the past. They also can help as define if there were methane emissions from the ocean floor in the past, and where they occurred.” says Panieri.
A similar instrument is also planned to be installed at University of Bergen, making Norway the only country in Europe that will have two mass spectrometer laboratories of this kind.
“We will contribute with an exchange of experience with our colleagues in Bergen. These instruments will provide Norway with cutting edge tools for climate research in decades to come.” says CAGE director Jürgen Mienert.
