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Biological and physical controls in the Southern Ocean on past millennial-scale atmospheric CO2 changes.

  • Gottschalk J Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Earth Sciences Department, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK.
  • Skinner LC Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Earth Sciences Department, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK.
  • Lippold J Institute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1-3, Bern 3012, Switzerland.
  • Vogel H Institute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1-3, Bern 3012, Switzerland.
  • Frank N Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.
  • Jaccard SL Institute of Geological Sciences and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 1-3, Bern 3012, Switzerland.
  • Waelbroeck C Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CNRS-CEA-UVSQ, Université de Paris-Saclay, Domaine du CNRS, bât. 12, Gif-sur-Yvette 91198, France.
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  • 2016-05-18
Published in:
  • Nature communications. - 2016
Atmosphere
Carbon
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon Isotopes
Carbon Sequestration
Ice Cover
Manganese
Oceans and Seas
Oxidation-Reduction
Oxygen
Uranium
Water
English Millennial-scale climate changes during the last glacial period and deglaciation were accompanied by rapid changes in atmospheric CO2 that remain unexplained. While the role of the Southern Ocean as a 'control valve' on ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange has been emphasized, the exact nature of this role, in particular the relative contributions of physical (for example, ocean dynamics and air-sea gas exchange) versus biological processes (for example, export productivity), remains poorly constrained. Here we combine reconstructions of bottom-water [O2], export production and (14)C ventilation ages in the sub-Antarctic Atlantic, and show that atmospheric CO2 pulses during the last glacial- and deglacial periods were consistently accompanied by decreases in the biological export of carbon and increases in deep-ocean ventilation via southern-sourced water masses. These findings demonstrate how the Southern Ocean's 'organic carbon pump' has exerted a tight control on atmospheric CO2, and thus global climate, specifically via a synergy of both physical and biological processes.
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  • English
Open access status
gold
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https://sonar.ch/global/documents/177740
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