Published December 15, 1998
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Journal Article
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Stable isotope fractionation during ultraviolet photolysis of N_2O
Abstract
The biogeochemical cycling of nitrous oxide plays an important role in greenhouse forcing and ozone regulation. Laboratory studies of N_2O:N_2 mixtures irradiated between 193–207 nm reveal a significant enrichment of the residual heavy nitrous oxide isotopomers. The isotopic signatures resulting from photolysis are well modeled by an irreversible Rayleigh distillation process, with large enrichment factors of ε_(15,18)(193 nm) = −18.4,‐14.5 per mil and ε_(15,18)(207 nm) = −48.7,‐46.0 per mil. These results, when combined with diffusive mixing processes, have the potential to explain the stratospheric enrichments previously observed.
Additional Information
© 1998 American Geophysical Union. Received 25 August 1998; accepted 23 October 1998; accepted October 23, 1998. We thank A Spivack and Y. Yung for helpful discussions. Support for the light sources used in this work from the NSF MRI program (grant ATM-9724500 to GAB) is gratefully acknowledged.Attached Files
Published - 1998GL900186.pdf
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1998GL900186.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 34098
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20120914-115151085
- ATM-9724500
- NSF
- Created
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2012-09-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences