In situ production of hybrid N<sub>2</sub>O in dust-rich Antarctic ice

Soussaintjean, Lison; Schmitt, Jochen; Savarino, Joël; Menking, J. Andy; Brook, Edward J.; Seth, Barbara; Lipenkov, Vladimir; Röckmann, Thomas; Fischer, Hubertus

doi:10.5194/bg-23-3939-2026

Articles | Volume 23, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-3939-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-3939-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 11

Research article

|

15 Jun 2026

Research article |

| 15 Jun 2026

In situ production of hybrid N₂O in dust-rich Antarctic ice

Lison Soussaintjean, Jochen Schmitt, Joël Savarino, J. Andy Menking, Edward J. Brook, Barbara Seth, Vladimir Lipenkov, Thomas Röckmann, and Hubertus Fischer

Data sets

Bulk and position-specific isotopic composition of N2O (total and in situ) and nitrate from the EDC, EDML, Vostok, TALDICE, Taylor Glacier, and NGRIP ice cores Lison Soussaintjean et al. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.986638

Short summary

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) produced in dust-rich Antarctic ice complicates the reconstruction of past atmospheric levels from ice core records. Using isotope analysis, we show that N₂O forms from two nitrogen precursors, one being nitrate. For the first time, we demonstrate that the site preference (SP) of N₂O reflects the isotopic difference between these precursors, not the production pathway, which challenges the common interpretation of SP.

In situ production of hybrid N2O in dust-rich Antarctic ice

Data sets

In situ production of hybrid N₂O in dust-rich Antarctic ice