A ten-year decrease in the atmospheric helium isotope ratio possibly caused by human activity

Details A ten-year decrease in the atmospheric helium isotope ratio possibly caused by human activity A ten-year decrease in the atmospheric helium isotope ratio possibly caused by human activity

Dec 1989

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989georl..16.1371s&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 16, Dec. 1989, p. 1371-1374.

Physics

4

Atmospheric Composition, Carbon Dioxide Concentration, Helium Isotopes, Man Environment Interactions, Atmospheric Temperature, Earth Crust, Radioactive Decay, Upper Atmosphere

Scientific paper

The isotope ratio of terrestrial air helium is believed to be constant on a global scale since the mixing time for the atmosphere is significantly shorter than the residence time for helium. Recently, the He-3/He-4 ratio at Ueno Park, central Tokyo, Japan, was found to be significantly lower than previously measured values. Reported here is a change in the atmospheric helium isotope ratio from 1.362 x 10 to the -6th in December 1977 to 1.339 x 10 to the -6th in September 1988 or a decrease of about 10 to the -9th/year. Although this change could be due to local/nonglobal effects, minor changes in the atmospheric flux balance for helium or experimental artifacts, the observations are also consistent with a significant influx of a low He-3/He-4 ratio source to the atmosphere. The magnitude of the flux, 0.48-2.9 x 10 to the 16th cu cm STP He/year, is compatible with estimates of the anthropogenic release of crustal helium from gas and oil production from the solid earth. Because of the inert chemistry of helium, a quantification of this change may provide a marker against which to calibrate the absolute flux and retention of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere.

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