Laser-induced sublimation extraction for centimeter-resolution multi-species greenhouse gas analysis on ice cores

Precision, accuracy, and temporal resolution are key to making full use of atmospheric trace gas records in ice cores. These aspects will become especially crucial for ice cores that aim to extend the ice core record to the last 1.5 Myr, i.e., across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (as currently drilled within the European project Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice Core (BE-OIC)). The ice from this period is expected to be close to bedrock and, due to glacier flow, extremely thinned with 15 000 years of climate history contained in only 1 m of ice. Accordingly, for a century-scale resolution, the sample vertical extent must be reduced to a few centimeters containing only about 1-2 mL air STP.