(Modeling the distribution of carbon isotopes in the ocean, CO sub 2 uptake, and CO sub 2 exchange and radon measurements, Bern, Switzerland and Heidelberg, W. Germany, June 23--August 31, 1989)

• Main Author: Peng, T.H.
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; CARBON DIOXIDE; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; SEAS; CARBON ISOTOPES; FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY; GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS; MEETINGS; SWITZERLAND; THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; TRAVEL; CARBON COMPOUNDS; CARBON OXIDES; CHALCOGENIDES; EUROPE; ISOTOPES; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; SURFACE WATERS; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarctic Ocean; Antarc*; NADW; North Atlantic Deep Water; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5651266; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5651266; https://doi.org/10.2172/5651266

A joint project with Dr. Siegenthaler, comparing the distribution of radiocarbon in the ocean by using the one-dimensional ten-box PANDORA model and a three-dimensional general circulation model (GCM) of the ocean, was performed at the Climate and Environmental Physics Laboratory, Physics Institute, the University of Bern. Analysis of vertical and horizontal water fluxes in Princeton's GCM reveals that major mixing processes take place in the Antarctic Ocean, while the flow of North Atlantic deep water (NADW) is underestimated. By using average fluxes derived from the GCM, the distribution of radiocarbon is calculated in the PANDORA model. The preliminary results, showing that the ocean is much too young, can be attributed to the large circulation fluxes derived from the GCM. Many more computations and comparisons of results from Oak Ridge and Bern need to be done in order to understand the difference in the modeling results when simple box models and complicated GCMs of the ocean are used.