On the sedimentary carbonate accumulation and dissolution in Western Pacific marginal basins

• Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
• Main Authors: Li, Lan, Luo, Yiming, Kienast, Markus, Qi, Di, Tjiputra, Jerry
• Other Authors: National Key Research and Development Program of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Research Council of Norway, State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: Antarctic; Pacific; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lno.11972; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lno.11972; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/lno.11972; https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lno.11972

Abstract The critical role of marginal seas in the global carbon cycle and their response to climate and circulation changes are not well understood. In this study, we used long‐term archives of sedimentary CaCO 3 data and a conceptual model to systematically determine the spatial and vertical features of the sediment carbonate system in the marginal seas along the Western Pacific Ocean. Our results show that the northward‐flowing Antarctic Bottom Water and Lower Circumpolar Deep Water produced shallower calcium carbonate preservation depths as they moved north and became more carbonate‐undersaturated. This suggests that the carbonate chemistry in the deep Western Pacific marginal sea basins is mostly governed by the global ocean thermohaline circulation. In contrast, the carbonate system in the deep Japan/East Sea is unique, with limited sedimentary carbonate accumulation due to weak calcification and its internal overturning circulation. Despite differences in the hydrological and ecological settings, the sedimentary calcium carbonate profiles in the Tasman Sea and South Fiji Basin are comparable to those in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, reflecting the remarkable influence of open‐ocean carbonate chemistry.