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Peer Reviewed Literature
Authors

Winkler, R., Landais, A., Risi, C., Baroni, M., Ekaykin, A., Jouzel, J., Petit, J.P., Prie, F., Minster, B. and Falourd, S.

Presented at

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Early Editon: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1215209110

Abstract

Combined measurements of water isotopologues of a snow pit at Vostok over the past 60 y reveal a unique signature that cannot be explained only by climatic features as usually done. Comparisons of the data using a general circulation model and a simpler isotopic distillation model reveal a stratospheric signature in the 17O-excess record at Vostok. Our data and theoretical considerations indicate that mass-independent fractionation imprints the isotopic signature of stratospheric water vapor, which may allow for a distinction between stratospheric and tropospheric influences at remote East Antarctic sites.