@doctorix
Figure 1 shows the measured CO2 concentrations plotted
against depth, together with a simplified 180/160 ratio curve
derived from the detailed curve given by Johnsen et a/.6
• The
originally recovered Camp Century and Byrd Station cores are
generally of poor quality between the 400 and 1,200 m depths
and the ice is heavily fractured. In these depth intervals the
measured CO2 values exhibit large scattering. This might be due
to contamination by drilling fluid, a mixture of diesel fuel (88%)
and trychlorethylene (12% ), penetrating through small cracks
into the ice. In these fractured ice zones, we measured several
samples at each sample depth. Its small size meant that the
sample was probably uncontaminated and we conclude that the
lowest CO2 values best represent the CO2 concentrations of the
originally trapped air of these depth intervals. In the larger
samples (300 g) contamination is almost inevitable and the
measured CO2 concentrations tend to be higher than the air
originally occluded in the ice. This is one reason for the high CO2
values obtained during the climatic optimum given by Berner et
al. 1 for the Camp Century core.