Pulses of Rapid Ventilation in the North Atlantic Surface Ocean During the Past Century

• Published in: Science
• Main Author: Druffel, Ellen R. M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1997
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.275.5305.1454; https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1126/science.275.5305.1454

The Suess Effect is a gradual decrease of the 14 C/ 12 C ratio in tree rings from 1870 to 1950 that is attributed mostly to the burning of 14 C-free fossil fuels for energy. In contrast, pre-nuclear bomb high-precision measurements of 14 C/ 12 C ratios in banded corals from the North Atlantic Ocean do not exhibit the expected Suess Effect. Instead, large biennial-to-decadal shifts in the 14 C/ 12 C ratios appear throughout the coral records. This pattern indicates that rapid pulses of increased mixing between surface and subsurface waters occurred in the North Atlantic Ocean during the past century.