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    • Rights: The University of Waikato
    Published 21 June 2007 Referencing Hub media
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    Dr Katja Riedel of NIWA explains that the air collected from the ice cores1 contains a mixture of different gases2, and she describes which techniques are used to separate and measure them.

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    DR KATJA RIEDEL
    The gas chromatograph3 helps us to measure the concentrations of our different gases. So you put a whole air sample in the front, and then out comes the different gases separated by time. How that happens is they travel at different speeds because they all have tiny little differences in, in their way of sticking to a medium. So some of them stick more and they travel faster, and other ones are less sticky and they come out first out of our gas chromatograph. And that’s a way of really separating gases.

    Our gas chromatograph is there for measuring carbon dioxide4, methane5, nitrous oxide6 and carbon monoxide7. And this is what we are interested in. These are the main greenhouse gases8 we want to measure.

    1. ice core: A core sample, typically removed from an ice sheet. Ice cores are long cylinders of ice recovered by drilling with a hollow bit. Ice cores contain information about past climates.
    2. gases: The state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states. Gases have the ability to diffuse readily and to become distributed uniformly throughout any container.
    3. gas chromatograph: A laboratory instrument used to separate and analyse chemicals in a sample.
    4. carbon dioxide: CO2 is a colourless, odourless, incombustible gas. It is a product of cellular respiration and combustion and is an essential component in photosynthesis.
    5. methane: CH4, a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect.
    6. nitrous oxide: N2O. A naturally occurring atmospheric gas. It is used as a mild anaesthetic and as a fuel. It is also a greenhouse gas.
    7. carbon monoxide: Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom. It is an odorless, colourless, tasteless, flammable gas.
    8. greenhouse gases: A natural or manmade gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone and industrial gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap warmth from the Sun and make life possible. An overabundance of greenhouse gases leads to a rise in global temperatures – known as the greenhouse effect.

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      ice core

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      2. A core sample, typically removed from an ice sheet. Ice cores are long cylinders of ice recovered by drilling with a hollow bit. Ice cores contain information about past climates.

      carbon dioxide

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      3. CO2 is a colourless, odourless, incombustible gas. It is a product of cellular respiration and combustion and is an essential component in photosynthesis.

      carbon monoxide

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      4. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom. It is an odorless, colourless, tasteless, flammable gas.

      gases

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      5. The state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states. Gases have the ability to diffuse readily and to become distributed uniformly throughout any container.

      methane

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      6. CH4, a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect.

      greenhouse gases

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      7. A natural or manmade gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone and industrial gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap warmth from the Sun and make life possible. An overabundance of greenhouse gases leads to a rise in global temperatures – known as the greenhouse effect.

      gas chromatograph

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      8. A laboratory instrument used to separate and analyse chemicals in a sample.

      nitrous oxide

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      9. N2O. A naturally occurring atmospheric gas. It is used as a mild anaesthetic and as a fuel. It is also a greenhouse gas.

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