The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink
Observed and predicted increases in Southern Ocean winds are thought to upwell deep ocean carbon and increase atmospheric CO2. However, Southern Ocean dynamics affect biogeochemistry and circulation pathways on a global scale. Using idealized Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:514310 2023-05-15T17:27:12+02:00 The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink Bronselaer, Ben Zanna, Laure Munday, David R. Lowe, Jason 2016-06 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514310/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514310/1/gbc20421.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364 en eng Wiley https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514310/1/gbc20421.pdf Bronselaer, Ben; Zanna, Laure; Munday, David R. orcid:0000-0003-1920-708X Lowe, Jason. 2016 The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 30 (6). 844-858. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364 2023-02-04T19:43:26Z Observed and predicted increases in Southern Ocean winds are thought to upwell deep ocean carbon and increase atmospheric CO2. However, Southern Ocean dynamics affect biogeochemistry and circulation pathways on a global scale. Using idealized Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation Model (MITgcm) simulations, we demonstrate that an increase in Southern Ocean winds reduces the carbon sink in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. The increase in atmospheric CO2 due to the reduction of the North Atlantic carbon sink is shown to be of the same magnitude as the increase in atmospheric CO2 due to Southern Ocean outgassing. The mechanism can be described as follows: The increase in Southern Ocean winds leads to an increase in upper ocean northward nutrient transport. Biological productivity is therefore enhanced in the tropics, which alters the chemistry of the subthermocline waters that are ultimately upwelled in the subpolar gyre. The results demonstrate the influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink and show that the effect of Southern Ocean winds on atmospheric CO2 is likely twice as large as previously thought in past, present, and future climates. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Southern Ocean Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Southern Ocean Global Biogeochemical Cycles 30 6 844 858 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Observed and predicted increases in Southern Ocean winds are thought to upwell deep ocean carbon and increase atmospheric CO2. However, Southern Ocean dynamics affect biogeochemistry and circulation pathways on a global scale. Using idealized Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation Model (MITgcm) simulations, we demonstrate that an increase in Southern Ocean winds reduces the carbon sink in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. The increase in atmospheric CO2 due to the reduction of the North Atlantic carbon sink is shown to be of the same magnitude as the increase in atmospheric CO2 due to Southern Ocean outgassing. The mechanism can be described as follows: The increase in Southern Ocean winds leads to an increase in upper ocean northward nutrient transport. Biological productivity is therefore enhanced in the tropics, which alters the chemistry of the subthermocline waters that are ultimately upwelled in the subpolar gyre. The results demonstrate the influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink and show that the effect of Southern Ocean winds on atmospheric CO2 is likely twice as large as previously thought in past, present, and future climates. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bronselaer, Ben Zanna, Laure Munday, David R. Lowe, Jason |
spellingShingle |
Bronselaer, Ben Zanna, Laure Munday, David R. Lowe, Jason The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink |
author_facet |
Bronselaer, Ben Zanna, Laure Munday, David R. Lowe, Jason |
author_sort |
Bronselaer, Ben |
title |
The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink |
title_short |
The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink |
title_full |
The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink |
title_fullStr |
The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink |
title_sort |
influence of southern ocean winds on the north atlantic carbon sink |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514310/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514310/1/gbc20421.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/514310/1/gbc20421.pdf Bronselaer, Ben; Zanna, Laure; Munday, David R. orcid:0000-0003-1920-708X Lowe, Jason. 2016 The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 30 (6). 844-858. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005364 |
container_title |
Global Biogeochemical Cycles |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
844 |
op_container_end_page |
858 |
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1766119149526843392 |