Carbon Kinetic Isotope Effect in the Oxidation of Methane by The
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 95, NO. D13, PAGES 22,455-22,462, DECEMBER 20, 1990 CarbonKinetic IsotopeEffect in the Oxidationof Methaneby the Hydroxyl Radical CttRISTOPHERA. CANTRELL,RICHARD E. SHE•, ANTHONY H. MCDANmL, JACK G. CALVERT, JAMESA. DAVIDSON,DAVID C. LOWEl, STANLEYC. TYLER,RALPH J. CICERONE2, AND JAMES P. GREENBERG AtmosphericKinetics and PhotochemistryGroup, AtmosphericChemistry Division, National Centerfor AtmosphericResearch, Boulder, Colorado The reactionof the hydroxylradical (HO) with the stablecafix)n isotopes of methanehas been studied as a functionof temperaturefrom 273 to 353 K. The measuredratio of the rate coefficientsfor reaction with•ZCHn relative to •3CH•(kn•/kn3) was 1.0054 (20.0009 at the95% confidence interval), independent of temperaturewithin the precisionof the measurement,over the rangestudied. The precisionof the present valueis muchimproved over that of previousstudies, and this resultprovides important constraints on the currentunderstanding of the cyclingof methanethrough the atmospherethrough the useof carbonisotope measurements. INTRODUCTION weightedaverage of the sourceratios must equal the atmospher- Methane (CH•) is an importanttrace gas in the atmosphere ic ratio, after correctionfor fractionationin any lossprocesses. [Wofsy,1976]. It is a key sink for the tropospherichydroxyl The primaryloss of CI-I4in the troposphereis the reactionwith radical. Methane contributesto greenhousewarming [Donner the hydroxylradical: and Ramanathan,1980]; its potentialwarming effects follow only CO2 and H20. Methaneis a primary sink for chlorine (R1) CHn + HO ---)CH3 + HzO atomsin the stratosphereand a majorsource of watervapor in the upper stratosphere. The concentrationof CI-I4 in the The rate coefficient for this reaction has been studied extensive- tropospherehas been increasing at a rateof approximately1% ly (seereview by Ravishankara[1988]), but dataindicating the per year, at leastover the pastdecade [Rasmussen and Khalil, effect of isotopesubstitution in methaneare scarce.
[Show full text]