Publication Date:
2023-10-24
Description:
•Anthropogenic CO2 flux can be estimated by stable isotopic surveying.
•Gas emissions from human activities force the atmospheric CO2.
•The monitoring of stable isotopes allows identifying the CO2 sources in the air.
•Several tons per day of CO2 flow through the geosphere in urban zones.
•Transient in the air CO2 occurs owing to changes in weather variables.
Description:
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations increase due to volcanic emissions, diffuse degassing from fault zones, and various human-caused gas emissions, especially in densely populated urban zones, which play a pivotal role in the ongoing climate change. This study aims to examine changes in the concentration and stable isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2. A laser-based analyzer provided the δ13C and δ18O values based on concentration measurements for various CO2 isotopologues. Multiple linear regression (MLR) showed that almost 30% of the atmospheric CO2 changes are caused by weather variations, while ~70% of the changes involve CO2 from various gas sources related to human activities. The Keeling plot approach was used to identify the isotopic signature of the extra CO2, which points to the gas produced by hydrocarbon combustion. An isotopic mass balance model was designed to show the relation between excess atmospheric CO2 and the flux of human-related gas emissions. Calculating the CO2 flux in the atmosphere based on this isotopic mass balance model showed that several tons of CO2 move daily between geospheres. This study shows that surveying atmospheric CO2 in urban zones allows quantifying the CO2 emissions from various sources.
Description:
Published
Description:
119302
Description:
6A. Geochimica per l'ambiente e geologia medica
Description:
1TR. Georisorse
Description:
1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianza
Description:
2IT. Laboratori analitici e sperimentali
Description:
6IT. Osservatori non satellitari
Description:
JCR Journal
Keywords:
CO2 flux
;
Carbon stable isotopes
;
Oxygen isotope composition
;
Atmospheric CO2
;
Geochemical modeling
;
Gas Hazard
;
Stable isotopes
;
Isotopes
;
01.01. Atmosphere
;
04.08. Volcanology
;
environmental geochemistry
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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