Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning
Mid-depth North Pacific waters are rich in nutrients and respired carbon accumulated over centuries. The rates and pathways with which these waters exchange with the surface ocean are uncertain, with divergent paradigms of the Pacific overturning: one envisions bottom waters upwelling to 1.5 km dept...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
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Springer Nature
2021
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_76932 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/9b952e10-d419-4bd6-bbec-d69ac458e6ce/download https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x |
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ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/unsworks_76932 2024-05-19T07:31:54+00:00 Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning Holzer, M DeVries, T de Lavergne, C 2021-12-01 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_76932 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/9b952e10-d419-4bd6-bbec-d69ac458e6ce/download https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x unknown Springer Nature http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210101650 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_76932 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/9b952e10-d419-4bd6-bbec-d69ac458e6ce/download https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ free_to_read urn:ISSN:2041-1723 Nature Communications, 12, 1, 4348 journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2021 ftunswworks https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x 2024-04-24T00:16:11Z Mid-depth North Pacific waters are rich in nutrients and respired carbon accumulated over centuries. The rates and pathways with which these waters exchange with the surface ocean are uncertain, with divergent paradigms of the Pacific overturning: one envisions bottom waters upwelling to 1.5 km depth; the other confines overturning beneath a mid-depth Pacific shadow zone (PSZ) shielded from mean advection. Here global inverse modelling reveals a PSZ where mean ages exceed 1400 years with overturning beneath. The PSZ is supplied primarily by Antarctic and North-Atlantic ventilated waters diffusing from below and from the south. Half of PSZ waters re-surface in the Southern Ocean, a quarter in the subarctic Pacific. The abyssal North Pacific, despite strong overturning, has mean re-surfacing times also exceeding 1400 years because of diffusion into the overlying PSZ. These results imply that diffusive transports – distinct from overturning transports – are a leading control on Pacific nutrient and carbon storage. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic North Atlantic Southern Ocean Subarctic UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks Nature Communications 12 1 |
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UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
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ftunswworks |
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unknown |
description |
Mid-depth North Pacific waters are rich in nutrients and respired carbon accumulated over centuries. The rates and pathways with which these waters exchange with the surface ocean are uncertain, with divergent paradigms of the Pacific overturning: one envisions bottom waters upwelling to 1.5 km depth; the other confines overturning beneath a mid-depth Pacific shadow zone (PSZ) shielded from mean advection. Here global inverse modelling reveals a PSZ where mean ages exceed 1400 years with overturning beneath. The PSZ is supplied primarily by Antarctic and North-Atlantic ventilated waters diffusing from below and from the south. Half of PSZ waters re-surface in the Southern Ocean, a quarter in the subarctic Pacific. The abyssal North Pacific, despite strong overturning, has mean re-surfacing times also exceeding 1400 years because of diffusion into the overlying PSZ. These results imply that diffusive transports – distinct from overturning transports – are a leading control on Pacific nutrient and carbon storage. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Holzer, M DeVries, T de Lavergne, C |
spellingShingle |
Holzer, M DeVries, T de Lavergne, C Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning |
author_facet |
Holzer, M DeVries, T de Lavergne, C |
author_sort |
Holzer, M |
title |
Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning |
title_short |
Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning |
title_full |
Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning |
title_fullStr |
Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diffusion controls the ventilation of a Pacific Shadow Zone above abyssal overturning |
title_sort |
diffusion controls the ventilation of a pacific shadow zone above abyssal overturning |
publisher |
Springer Nature |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_76932 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/9b952e10-d419-4bd6-bbec-d69ac458e6ce/download https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic North Atlantic Southern Ocean Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic North Atlantic Southern Ocean Subarctic |
op_source |
urn:ISSN:2041-1723 Nature Communications, 12, 1, 4348 |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210101650 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_76932 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/9b952e10-d419-4bd6-bbec-d69ac458e6ce/download https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x |
op_rights |
open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ free_to_read |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24648-x |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1799469779602374656 |