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The influence of air and sea exchange on the carbon isotope distribution in the sea
Author(s) -
Broecker Wallace S.,
MaierReimer Ernst
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/92gb01672
Subject(s) - isotopes of carbon , oceanography , deep sea , environmental science , isotope , ocean current , carbon fibers , sea surface temperature , atmospheric sciences , geology , climatology , total organic carbon , chemistry , environmental chemistry , physics , materials science , quantum mechanics , composite number , composite material
We explore here the influence of the temperature dependence of isotope fractionation between atmospheric CO 2 and ocean ΣCO 2 on the distribution of carbon isotopes in the ocean. This is accomplished by an analysis of departures from the expected Redfield tie between PO 4 and δ 13 C. We find that for the surface ocean, the temperature influence largely compensates for the biologic influence. In the deep ocean, the temperature influence imprinted at the sites of deepwater formation reduces somewhat the biologically induced difference between the carbon isotope ratios for deep waters produced in the northern Atlantic and in the Antarctic. These same features are reproduced in the Hamburg ocean model. In order to assess the impact of changes in the ratio of ocean mixing rate to wind speed, we have made a model run in which CO 2 exchange rates between air and sea were everywhere doubled. As expected, the influence of the thermodynamic effect on the oceanic carbon isotope distribution is magnified.