CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales
The cause of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) during the recent ice ages is yet to be fully explained. Most mechanisms for glacial–interglacial CO 2 change have centred on carbon exchange with the deep ocean, owing to its large size and relatively rapid exchange with the atmosphere 1 ....
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/177012404/Southern_Ocean.pdf |
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc 2024-05-12T07:55:03+00:00 CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales Rae, James Andrea, Burke Robinson, Laura Adkins, Jess F. Chen, Tianyu Cole, C Greenop, R Li, T Littley, EFM Nita, DC Stewart, Joseph Taylor, BJ 2018-10 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1983/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/177012404/Southern_Ocean.pdf eng eng https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Rae , J , Andrea , B , Robinson , L , Adkins , J F , Chen , T , Cole , C , Greenop , R , Li , T , Littley , EFM , Nita , DC , Stewart , J & Taylor , BJ 2018 , ' CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales ' , Nature , vol. 562 , no. 7728 , pp. 569-573 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 article 2018 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 2024-04-17T14:26:36Z The cause of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) during the recent ice ages is yet to be fully explained. Most mechanisms for glacial–interglacial CO 2 change have centred on carbon exchange with the deep ocean, owing to its large size and relatively rapid exchange with the atmosphere 1 . The Southern Ocean is thought to have a key role in this exchange, as much of the deep ocean is ventilated to the atmosphere in this region 2 . However, it is difficult to reconstruct changes in deep Southern Ocean carbon storage, so few direct tests of this hypothesis have been carried out. Here we present deep-sea coral boron isotope data that track the pH—and thus the CO 2 chemistry—of the deep Southern Ocean over the past forty thousand years. At sites closest to the Antarctic continental margin, and most influenced by the deep southern waters that form the ocean’s lower overturning cell, we find a close relationship between ocean pH and atmospheric CO 2 : during intervals of low CO 2 , ocean pH is low, reflecting enhanced ocean carbon storage; and during intervals of rising CO 2 , ocean pH rises, reflecting loss of carbon from the ocean to the atmosphere. Correspondingly, at shallower sites we find rapid (millennial- to centennial-scale) decreases in pH during abrupt increases in CO 2 , reflecting the rapid transfer of carbon from the deep ocean to the upper ocean and atmosphere. Our findings confirm the importance of the deep Southern Ocean in ice-age CO 2 change, and show that deep-ocean CO 2 release can occur as a dynamic feedback to rapid climate change on centennial timescales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean University of Bristol: Bristol Research Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Nature 562 7728 569 573 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
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ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
The cause of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) during the recent ice ages is yet to be fully explained. Most mechanisms for glacial–interglacial CO 2 change have centred on carbon exchange with the deep ocean, owing to its large size and relatively rapid exchange with the atmosphere 1 . The Southern Ocean is thought to have a key role in this exchange, as much of the deep ocean is ventilated to the atmosphere in this region 2 . However, it is difficult to reconstruct changes in deep Southern Ocean carbon storage, so few direct tests of this hypothesis have been carried out. Here we present deep-sea coral boron isotope data that track the pH—and thus the CO 2 chemistry—of the deep Southern Ocean over the past forty thousand years. At sites closest to the Antarctic continental margin, and most influenced by the deep southern waters that form the ocean’s lower overturning cell, we find a close relationship between ocean pH and atmospheric CO 2 : during intervals of low CO 2 , ocean pH is low, reflecting enhanced ocean carbon storage; and during intervals of rising CO 2 , ocean pH rises, reflecting loss of carbon from the ocean to the atmosphere. Correspondingly, at shallower sites we find rapid (millennial- to centennial-scale) decreases in pH during abrupt increases in CO 2 , reflecting the rapid transfer of carbon from the deep ocean to the upper ocean and atmosphere. Our findings confirm the importance of the deep Southern Ocean in ice-age CO 2 change, and show that deep-ocean CO 2 release can occur as a dynamic feedback to rapid climate change on centennial timescales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rae, James Andrea, Burke Robinson, Laura Adkins, Jess F. Chen, Tianyu Cole, C Greenop, R Li, T Littley, EFM Nita, DC Stewart, Joseph Taylor, BJ |
spellingShingle |
Rae, James Andrea, Burke Robinson, Laura Adkins, Jess F. Chen, Tianyu Cole, C Greenop, R Li, T Littley, EFM Nita, DC Stewart, Joseph Taylor, BJ CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
author_facet |
Rae, James Andrea, Burke Robinson, Laura Adkins, Jess F. Chen, Tianyu Cole, C Greenop, R Li, T Littley, EFM Nita, DC Stewart, Joseph Taylor, BJ |
author_sort |
Rae, James |
title |
CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
title_short |
CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
title_full |
CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
title_fullStr |
CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
title_full_unstemmed |
CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
title_sort |
co 2 storage and release in the deep southern ocean on millennial to centennial timescales |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/177012404/Southern_Ocean.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Rae , J , Andrea , B , Robinson , L , Adkins , J F , Chen , T , Cole , C , Greenop , R , Li , T , Littley , EFM , Nita , DC , Stewart , J & Taylor , BJ 2018 , ' CO 2 storage and release in the deep Southern Ocean on millennial to centennial timescales ' , Nature , vol. 562 , no. 7728 , pp. 569-573 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 |
op_relation |
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/17d328a9-cec2-421c-b319-78e2f5006bfc |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0614-0 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
562 |
container_issue |
7728 |
container_start_page |
569 |
op_container_end_page |
573 |
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1798855005381328896 |