The composition of air in bubbles of ice reveals important information on the composition of the atmosphere at the time at which the ice was formed. The enclosed air has essentially an atmospheric composition if the ice formation occurred by dry sintering of snow and firn at low temperatures. The history of atmospheric CO 2 concentration is of special interest due to its present increase and its climatic implications. Currently, CO 2 analysis of air extracted from ice cores seems the best and most direct method of determining the natural CO 2 concentration before 1950 and possible pre-industrial variations. Analyses of ice samples representing the past 40 ka show that there were significant changes in concentration of atmospheric CO 2 at the end, and probably during part, of the last glaciation. δ 13 C measurements on CO 2 extracted from ice cores can indicate possible mechanisms causing these changes in the concentration of atmospheric CO 2 .
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Stauffer et al. (1985) studied this question.
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