Reconstructions of past atmospheric methane concentrations are available from ice cores from both Greenland and Antarctica. The difference observed between the two polar methane concentration levels represents a valuable constraint on the geographical location of the methane sources. Here we present new high-resolution methane records from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) and the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice cores covering Termination 1, the Last Glacial Maximum, and parts of the last glacial back to 32 000 years before present. Due to the high resolution of the records, the synchronisation between the ice cores from NGRIP and EDML is considerably improved, and the interpolar concentration difference of methane is determined with unprecedented precision and temporal resolution. Relative to the mean methane concentration, we find a rather stable positive relative interpolar difference throughout the record with its minimum value of 3.7 ± 0.7 % between 21 900–21 200 years before present, which is higher than previously estimated in this interval close to the Last Glacial Maximum. This implies that Northern Hemisphere boreal wetland sources were never completely shut off during the peak glacial, as suggested from previous bipolar methane concentration records. Starting at 21 000 years before present, i.e. several millennia prior to the transition into the Holocene, the relative interpolar difference becomes even more positive and stays at a fairly stable level of 6.5 ± 0.8 % during Termination 1. We thus find that the boreal and tropical methane sources increased by approximately the same factor during Termination 1. We hypothesise that latitudinal shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the monsoon system contribute, either by dislocation of the methane source regions or, in case of the ITCZ, also by changing the relative atmospheric volumes of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, to the subtle variations in the relative interpolar concentration difference on glacial/interglacial as well as on millennial time scales

Abstract. During the last glacial cycle, Greenland temperature showed many rapid temperature variations, the so-called Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events. The past atmospheric methane concentration closely followed these temperature variations, which implies that the warmings recorded in Greenland were probably hemispheric in extent. Here we substantially extend and complete the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) methane record from the Preboreal Holocene (PB) back to the end of the last interglacial period with a mean time resolution of 54 yr. We relate the amplitudes of the methane increases associated with DO events to the amplitudes of the local Greenland NGRIP temperature increases derived from stable nitrogen isotope (δ15N) measurements, which have been performed along the same ice core (Kindler et al., 2014). We find the ratio to oscillate between 5 parts per billion (ppb) per °C and 18 ppb °C−1 with the approximate frequency of the precessional cycle. A remarkably high ratio of 25.5 ppb °C−1 is reached during the transition from the Younger Dryas (YD) to the PB. Analysis of the timing of the fast methane and temperature increases reveals significant lags of the methane increases relative to NGRIP temperature for DO events 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 19, and 20. These events generally have small methane increase rates and we hypothesize that the lag is caused by pronounced northward displacement of the source regions from stadial to interstadial. We further show that the relative interpolar concentration difference (rIPD) of methane is about 4.5% for the stadials between DO events 18 and 20, which is in the same order as in the stadials before and after DO event 2 around the Last Glacial Maximum. The rIPD of methane remains relatively stable throughout the full last glacial, with a tendency for elevated values during interstadial compared to stadial periods.

Detailed insight into natural variations of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) in response to changes in the Earth's climate system is provided by new measurements along the ice core of the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP). The presented record reaches from the early Holocene back into the previous interglacial with a mean time resolution of about 75years. Between 11 and 120kyrBP, atmospheric N2O concentrations react substantially to the last glacial‐interglacial transition (Termination 1) and millennial time scale climate variations of the last glacial period. For long‐lasting Dansgaard/Oeschger (DO) events, the N2O increase precedes Greenland temperature change by several hundred years with an increase rate of about 0.8–1.3ppbv/century, which accelerates to about 3.8–10.7ppbv/century at the time of the rapid warming in Greenland. Within each bundle of DO events, the new record further reveals particularly low N2O concentrations at the approximate time of Heinrich events. This suggests that the response of marine and/or terrestrial N2O emissions on a global scale are different for stadials with and without Heinrich events.

Abstract. Because the total air content (TAC) of polar ice is directly affected by the atmospheric pressure and temperature, its record in polar ice cores was initially considered as a proxy for past ice sheet elevation changes. However, the Antarctic ice core TAC record is known to also contain an insolation signature, although the underlying physical mechanisms are still a matter of debate. Here we present a highresolution TAC record over the whole North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core, covering the last 120 000 years, which independently supports an insolation signature in Greenland. Wavelet analysis reveals a clear precession and obliquity signal similar to previous findings on Antarctic TAC, with a different insolation history. In our high-resolution record we also find a decrease of 4-6 % (4-5 mL kg −1 ) in TAC as a response to Dansgaard-Oeschger events (DO events). TAC starts to decrease in parallel to increasing Greenland surface temperature and slightly before CH 4 reacts to the warming but also shows a two-step decline that lasts for several centuries into the warm interstadial. The TAC response is larger than expected considering only changes in air density by local temperature and atmospheric pressure as a driver, pointing to a transient firnification response caused by the accumulation-induced increase in the load on the firn at bubble close-off, while temperature changes deeper in the firn are still small.

Reconstructions of past atmospheric methane concentrations are available from ice cores from both, Greenland and Antarctica. The difference observed between the two polar methane concentration levels is a valuable additional parameter which allows to constrain the geographical location of the responsible methane sources. Here we present new high-resolution methane records from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) and the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) Dronning Maud Land (EDML) ice cores covering Termination 1, the Last Glacial Maximum, and parts of the last glacial back to 32 000 years before present. Due to the high-resolution records the synchronisation between the ice cores from NGRIP and EDML is considerably improved and the interpolar concentration difference of methane is determined with unprecedented precision and temporal resolution. Relative to the mean methane concentration, we find a rather stable positive interpolar difference throughout the record with its minimum value of 3.7 ± 0.7 % between 21 900–21 200 years before present, which is higher than previously estimated in this interval close to the Last Glacial Maximum. This implies that Northern Hemisphere boreal wetland sources were never completely shut off during the peak glacial. Starting at 21 000 years before present, i.e. severval millenia prior to the transition into the Holocene, the relative interpolar difference becomes even more positive and stays at a fairly stable level of 6.5 ± 0.8 % during Termination 1. We hypothesise that the anti-correlation observed in the monsoon records from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres induces a methane source redistribution within lower latitudes, which could explain parts of the variations in the interpolar difference

Abstract. During the last glacial cycle, Greenland temperature showed many rapid temperature variations, the so called Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events. The past atmospheric methane concentration closely followed these temperature variations, which implies that the warmings recorded in Greenland were probably hemispheric in extent. Here we substantially extend and complete the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) methane record from Termination 1 back to the end of the last interglacial period with a mean time resolution of 54 yr. We relate the amplitudes of the methane increases associated with DO events to the amplitudes of the NGRIP temperature increases derived from stable nitrogen isotope (δ15N) measurements, which have been performed along the same ice core. We find the sensitivity to oscillate between 5 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) per °C and 18 ppbv °C−1 with the approximate frequency of the precessional cycle. A remarkably high sensitivity of 25.5 ppbv °C−1 is reached during Termination 1. Analysis of the timing of the fast methane and temperature increases reveals significant lags of the methane increases relative to NGRIP temperature for the DO events 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 19, and 20. We further show that the relative interpolar concentration difference of methane is 4.6 ± 0.7% between the DO events 18 and 19 and 4.4 ± 0.8% between the DO events 19 to 20, which is in the same order as in the stadials before and after DO event 2 around the Last Glacial Maximum.

Abstract. Because the total air content (TAC) of polar ice is directly affected by the atmospheric pressure, its record in polar ice cores was considered as a proxy for past ice sheet elevation changes. However the Antarctic ice core TAC record is known to also contain an insolation signature, although the underlying physical mechanisms are still a matter of debate. Here we present a high-resolution TAC record over the whole North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core, covering the last 120 000 years, which independently supports an insolation signature in Greenland. Wavelet analysis reveals a clear precession and obliquity signal similar to previous findings on Antarctic TAC, with different insolation history. In our high-resolution record we also find a decrease of 3–5 % (3–4.2 mL kg−1) in TAC as a response to Dansgaard-Oeschger-Events (DO-events). TAC starts to decrease in parallel to increasing Greenland surface temperature and slightly before CH4 reacts to the warming, but also shows a two-step decline that lasts for several centuries into the warm phase/interstadial. The TAC response is larger than expected considering only local temperature and atmospheric pressure as a driver, pointing to transient firnification response caused by the accumulation-induced increase in the load on the firn at bubble close-off, while temperature changes deeper in the firn are still small.

No abstract available