Jean-Robert Petit is a French scientist. He studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

and received a PhD in 1984 in

paleoclimatology Paleoclimatology ( British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the scientific study of climates predating the invention of meteorological instruments, when no direct measurement data were available. As instrumental records only span a tiny part of ...

on the study of the aeolian dust record from Antarctic

ice cores An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Since the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper ones, and an ice core contains i ...

Academic works

In 1999 he was the lead author of a study published in

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

, "Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the

Vostok Vostok () refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived ...

ice core,

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

." The paper presented the first long climate record from the ice. It provided a continuous record of temperature and atmospheric composition. The data extracted from this ice core had implications throughout the fields of

glaciology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, clim ...

and

. One of the concluding remarks was that present day levels of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

and

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

seem to have been unprecedented during the past 420,000 years. The paper has been cited 3953 times to date.

Ice cores

He was also a member of the EPICA project, a European team that drilled an ice core at

Dome C Dome C , also known as dôme Circe, Dome Charlie (US) or dôme Concordia, is located at Antarctica at an elevation of above sea level, on one of several Glacier morphology#Ice sheets, domes of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Location dome C is on the A ...

that provided, in 2004, a 740,000-year climate record.

References

Bibliography

* Jean-Robert Petit, ''Vostok, Le dernier secret de l'Antarctique'', éditions Paulsen, Paris, 2013

External links

An interview with:Dr. Jean-Robert Petit
French climatologists 20th-century French earth scientists Paleoclimatologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{France-scientist-stub

Academic works

Ice cores

See also

References

Bibliography

External links