Noble gases and Earths energy budget

Global ocean heat content is a key climate indicator as it directly reflects Earth’s energy balance, but the oceans are large and measuring ocean temperatures globally to full depth is challenging. However, just as a soda goes flat as it warms, something similar will happen to gases dissolved in the ocean as it warms. This makes atmospheric mixing ratios of noble gases a near perfect proxy for global ocean heat content. In OldNoble, we will identify and obtain suitable sealed containers of old air, develop a sample extraction system, and measure the noble gas mixing ratios. Our aim is to make a well dated reconstruction of global ocean heat content since 1850.