Ventilation of the Deep Southern Ocean and Deglacial CO 2 rise

Past glacial-interglacial increases in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are thought to arise from the rapid release of CO2 sequestered in the deep sea, primarily via the Southern Ocean. Here, we present radiocarbon evidence from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean that str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Skinner, L. C., Fallon, Stewart, Waelbroeck, Claire, Michel, E, Barker, S
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Subjects:
Keywords: carbon dioxide
water
atmospheric chemistry
carbon dioxide
carbon sequestration
concentration (composition)
deep water
deglaciation
glacial-interglacial cycle
Last Glacial
overturn
paleoatmosphere
radiocarbon dating
upwelling
ventilation
Ant
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1885/52053
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1183627
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/52053/5/ScienceVol328_1147.pdf.jpg
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/52053/7/01_Skinner_Ventilation_of_the_Deep_2010.pdf.jpg
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Summary:Past glacial-interglacial increases in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are thought to arise from the rapid release of CO2 sequestered in the deep sea, primarily via the Southern Ocean. Here, we present radiocarbon evidence from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean that strongly supports this hypothesis. We show that during the last glacial period, deep water circulating around Antarctica was more than two times older than today relative to the atmosphere. During deglaciation, the dissipation of this old and presumably CO2-enriched deep water played an important role in the pulsed rise of atmospheric CO2 through its variable influence on the upwelling branch of the Antarctic overturning circulation.

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