Water masses as a unifying framework for understanding the Southern Ocean Carbon Cycle ...
The scientific motivation for this study is to understand the processes in the ocean interior controlling carbon transfer across 30° S. To address this, we have developed a unified framework for understanding the interplay between physical drivers such as buoyancy fluxes and ocean mixing, and carbon...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
ETH Zurich
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000037739 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/37739 |
| Summary: | The scientific motivation for this study is to understand the processes in the ocean interior controlling carbon transfer across 30° S. To address this, we have developed a unified framework for understanding the interplay between physical drivers such as buoyancy fluxes and ocean mixing, and carbon-specific processes such as biology, gas exchange and carbon mixing. Given the importance of density in determining the ocean interior structure and circulation, the framework is one that is organized by density and water masses, and it makes combined use of Eulerian and Lagrangian diagnostics. This is achieved through application to a global ice-ocean circulation model and an ocean biogeochemistry model, with both components being part of the widely-used IPSL coupled ocean/atmosphere/carbon cycle model. Our main new result is the dominance of the overturning circulation (identified by water masses) in setting the vertical distribution of carbon transport from the Southern Ocean towards the global ocean. A net ... : Biogeosciences, 8 (5) ... |
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