CSIRO Extends Atmospheric Data Back 10 Years, Thanks To Diver Who Never Used Tank From 1968

[hatrack]

With all the horse-trading that is going on at Copenhagen, it is easy to forget the objective is quite simple: cleaner air. Most of what we know about how the atmosphere used to be comes from ice core samples. Scientists only started to take air samples a few decades ago. But now that archive of air has unexpectedly been extended by a decade because of an astute former scuba diver who never throws anything away.

In a room at the CSIRO's Atmospheric Research Centre, south-east of Melbourne, Dr Paul Fraser shows off a collection of tanks, each of which can hold a thousand litres of compressed air. "This is what's known as the Cape Grim air archive, these are samples of pristine air from Tasmania and we've been collecting them since 1978," he said. It is the oldest air archive in the southern hemisphere and the cleanest in the world.

Now the archive has been expanded, thanks to 76-year-old John Allport. In 1968 the keen scuba diver dropped a tank off to be filled with air but never got round to using the tank on a dive.

Mr Allport was prompted to hand over his air tank when he and his wife Marg heard that the CSIRO archive only went back to 1978. "They said that they had the oldest air and I thought, no they haven't, I've got the oldest air," he said. The tank was filled up in Melbourne's CBD, so it is not the cleanest air sample, but Dr Paul Fraser says it is now the oldest one known to science.

EDIT

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/18/2775887.htm

[lapfog_1]

1. Hmmm

I'm an old scuba diver, and a former scuba instructor.

All the scuba tanks I ever used were filled with compressed air that has been filtered, usually though a series of filters, at least one of which was activated charcoal. In addition, the air is dried, using a desiccant typically.

I wouldn't think that this would be considered as "representative" of the atmosphere 40 years ago.

[MineralMan]

2. The proportions of the various gasses that make up the air,

though, would not be altered by that process, particularly the quantity of CO2.

[lapfog_1]

3. I'm not a chemist, but isn't there a small increase in CO2

by forcing air (with O2 as a component) over carbon (charcoal)? Maybe only a slight increase?

And the aerosols would be worthless, especially water vapor.

[MineralMan]

4. I don't actually know the answer to that.

[tabatha]

5. Charcoal absorption

Methane Does Not Act Like Other Hydrocarbons
Activated charcoal is commonly used in many purifiers and gas traps labeled “hydrocarbon purifier” or “hydrocarbon trap,” but methane is not one of the hydrocarbons that can be removed. The molecule is only lightly adsorbed in the charcoal matrix and is easily dislodged by any higher hydrocarbon or other molecule adsorbed in the matrix and passes through the purifier bed. In reality, not even small amounts can be removed.

So, what does a hydrocarbon trap remove? Activated charcoal is a very good purification media that removes higher saturated hydrocarbons, benzene ring molecules, oils, and chloro-hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene. Table 1 contains a partial list of contaminants that can be removed, and includes an indication of the relative adsorbing effectiveness of charcoal.

Table 1
High Medium Low
alcohol acetone acetaldehyde
benzene amines carbon dioxide
carbon tetrachloride ammonia carbon monoxide
mercaptans chlorine ethylene
toluene hydrogen sulfide acetylene
trichloroethylene phosgene methane
sulfur dioxide

(I doubt this table will come out properly, can't use tabs - it is in the link)

http://www.specialtygasreport.com/features/346

[TxRider]

7. But might it add a bit of carbon in the process?

[tinrobot]

9. But can't that be measured and accounted for?

If you know how the tank was filled, you could account for any added carbon and subtract it out.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. "Can of ____ Air" gag gifts

People have been selling tourists cans of air at resort spots since the beginning of the modern Era of Marketing: "Can of Florida Air", "Can of Niagara Falls Air", "Can of Las Vegas Air", etc.

Now, THAT would be worth checking out.

And I'm confident that if the word went out, we'd be finding more untapped SCUBA tanks from the late 1940s, when SCUBA diving first became a sport. Perhaps Al Gore could organize some of his friends with deep pockets to finance a bounty for untapped tanks of air. George Soros and Ted Turner are especially keen observers of science. There are also several tech {m|b}illionaires, like Charles Simonyi and Sergey Brin, who would be worth lobbying.

SCUBA was invented in 1943 by Capt. Jacques-Yves Cousteau (and Emile Gagnan, as well). Yes, THAT Cousteau; the mariner, engineer, and environmentalist. How fitting that his wartime invention could provide the last few, but vital, clues to the problems our world is facing.

--d!

[phantom power]

8. I pity da fool who try to have older air than me!

[madokie]

10. There is a grade A fill pit near here that from time to time have rocks

that when you break them open they are hollow inside, some will even have hollow rocks inside them, I've found one rock the size of a football on steroids that had two rocks in it, one inside the other and all three were sealed and have been since the start of time or the big bang or whatever you call it. When we would break them apart we'd just be amazed at the fact that here is some air that has been with us from the beginning and no one and I mean no one is testing any of it. When you break one of these rocks, sand stones, the inside is lined with what looks like glass so I think the air in them has been there from day one.

PM me with a serious contact , like a researcher, and I can put them on to the man to talk to who owns the pit.