scholarly journals Distribution of carbonate ion in the deep ocean: Support for a post-Little Ice Age change in Southern Ocean ventilation?

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Wallace S. Broecker ◽  
Stewart Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Ocean Ventilation ◽  
Carbonate Ion ◽  
Age Change

scholarly journals Interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon reveals natural variability of Southern Ocean winds

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. B. Rodgers ◽  
S. E. M. Fletcher ◽  
D. Bianchi ◽  
C. Beaulieu ◽  
E. D. Galbraith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Global Maximum ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
Ocean Winds ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
14Co2 Production ◽  
Ocean Wind

Abstract. Tree ring Δ14C data (Reimer et al., 2004; McCormac et al., 2004) indicate that atmospheric Δ14C varied on multi-decadal to centennial timescales, in both hemispheres, over the pre-industrial period AD 950–1830. Although the Northern and Southern Hemispheric Δ14C records display similar variability, it is difficult from these data alone to distinguish between variations driven by 14CO2 production in the upper atmosphere (Stuiver, 1980) and exchanges between carbon reservoirs (Siegenthaler, 1980). Here we consider rather the Interhemispheric Gradient in atmospheric Δ14C as revealing of the background pre-bomb air-sea Disequilbrium Flux between 14CO2 and CO2. As the global maximum of the Disequilibrium Flux is squarely centered in the open ocean regions of the Southern Ocean, relatively modest perturbations to the winds over this region drive significant perturbations to the Interhemispheric Gradient. The analysis presented here implies that changes to Southern Ocean windspeeds are likely a main driver of the observed variability in the Interhemispheric Gradient over 950–1830, and further, that this variability may be larger than the Southern Ocean wind trends that have been reported for recent decades (notably 1980–2004). This interpretation also implies a significant weakening of the winds over the Southern Ocean within a few decades of AD 1375, associated with the transition between the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. The driving forces that could have produced such a shift in the winds remain unkown.

scholarly journals Deep ocean ventilation, carbon isotopes, marine sedimentation and the deglacial CO<sub>2</sub> rise

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 771-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Tschumi ◽  
F. Joos ◽  
M. Gehlen ◽  
C. Heinze
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Carbon Cycle Model ◽  
Ocean Ventilation ◽  
Marine Sedimentation ◽  
Sediment Formation ◽  
Ocean Carbon

Abstract. The link between the atmospheric CO2 level and the ventilation state of the deep ocean is an important building block of the key hypotheses put forth to explain glacial-interglacial CO2 fluctuations. In this study, we systematically examine the sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 and its carbon isotope composition to changes in deep ocean ventilation, the ocean carbon pumps, and sediment formation in a global 3-D ocean-sediment carbon cycle model. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that a break up of Southern Ocean stratification and invigorated deep ocean ventilation were the dominant drivers for the early deglacial CO2 rise of ~35 ppm between the Last Glacial Maximum and 14.6 ka BP. Another rise of 10 ppm until the end of the Holocene is attributed to carbonate compensation responding to the early deglacial change in ocean circulation. Our reasoning is based on a multi-proxy analysis which indicates that an acceleration of deep ocean ventilation during early deglaciation is not only consistent with recorded atmospheric CO2 but also with the reconstructed opal sedimentation peak in the Southern Ocean at around 16 ka BP, the record of atmospheric δ13CCO2, and the reconstructed changes in the Pacific CaCO3 saturation horizon.

scholarly journals Timing and magnitude of Southern Ocean sea ice/carbon cycle feedbacks

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 4498-4504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Stein ◽  
Axel Timmermann ◽  
Eun Young Kwon ◽  
Tobias Friedrich
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Carbon Cycle Model ◽  
Ocean Stratification ◽  
Ocean Ventilation

The Southern Ocean (SO) played a prominent role in the exchange of carbon between ocean and atmosphere on glacial timescales through its regulation of deep ocean ventilation. Previous studies indicated that SO sea ice could dynamically link several processes of carbon sequestration, but these studies relied on models with simplified ocean and sea ice dynamics or snapshot simulations with general circulation models. Here, we use a transient run of an intermediate complexity climate model, covering the past eight glacial cycles, to investigate the orbital-scale dynamics of deep ocean ventilation changes due to SO sea ice. Cold climates increase sea ice cover, sea ice export, and Antarctic Bottom Water formation, which are accompanied by increased SO upwelling, stronger poleward export of Circumpolar Deep Water, and a reduction of the atmospheric exposure time of surface waters by a factor of 10. Moreover, increased brine formation around Antarctica enhances deep ocean stratification, which could act to decrease vertical mixing by a factor of four compared with the current climate. Sensitivity tests with a steady-state carbon cycle model indicate that the two mechanisms combined can reduce atmospheric carbon by 40 ppm, with ocean stratification acting early within a glacial cycle to amplify the carbon cycle response.

scholarly journals Effect of changing ocean circulation on deep ocean temperature in the last millennium

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeemijn Scheen ◽  
Thomas F. Stocker
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Heat Content ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Ocean Temperature ◽  
Meridional Heat Transport ◽  
Temperature Anomalies ◽  
The Past

Abstract. Paleoreconstructions and modern observations provide us with anomalies of surface temperature over the past millennium. The history of deep ocean temperatures is much less well-known and was simulated in a recent study for the past 2000 years under forced surface temperature anomalies. In this study, we simulate the past 800 years with an illustrative forcing scenario in the Bern3D ocean model, which enables us to assess the role of changes in ocean circulation on deep ocean temperature. We quantify the effect of changing ocean circulation by comparing transient simulations (where the ocean dynamically adjusts to anomalies in surface temperature – hence density) to simulations with fixed ocean circulation. We decompose temperature, ocean heat content and meridional heat transport into the contributions from changing ocean circulation and changing sea surface temperature (SST). In the deep ocean, the contribution from changing ocean circulation is found to be as important as the changing SST signal itself. Firstly, the small changes in ocean circulation amplify the Little Ice Age signal around 3 km depth by at least a factor of two, depending on the basin. Secondly, they fasten the arrival of this atmospheric signal in the Pacific and Southern Ocean at all depths, whereas they delay the arrival in the Atlantic between about 2.5 and 3.5 km by two centuries. This delay is explained by an initial competition between the Little Ice Age cooling and a warming due to an increase in relatively warmer North Atlantic Deep Water at the cost of Antarctic Bottom Water. Under the consecutive AMOC slowdown, this shift in water masses is inverted and aging of the water causes a late additional cooling. Our results suggest that small changes in ocean circulation can have a large impact on the amplitude and timing of ocean temperature anomalies below 2 km depth.

scholarly journals Rapid shifts in circulation and biogeochemistry of the Southern Ocean during deglacial carbon cycle events

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. eabb3807
Author(s):  
Tao Li ◽  
Laura F. Robinson ◽  
Tianyu Chen ◽  
Xingchen T. Wang ◽  
Andrea Burke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Biological Pump ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Proxy Data ◽  
Ocean Ventilation ◽  
Carbon Release ◽  
The Last Deglaciation

The Southern Ocean plays a crucial role in regulating atmospheric CO2 on centennial to millennial time scales. However, observations of sufficient resolution to explore this have been lacking. Here, we report high-resolution, multiproxy records based on precisely dated deep-sea corals from the Southern Ocean. Paired deep (∆14C and δ11B) and surface (δ15N) proxy data point to enhanced upwelling coupled with reduced efficiency of the biological pump at 14.6 and 11.7 thousand years (ka) ago, which would have facilitated rapid carbon release to the atmosphere. Transient periods of unusually well-ventilated waters in the deep Southern Ocean occurred at 16.3 and 12.8 ka ago. Contemporaneous atmospheric carbon records indicate that these Southern Ocean ventilation events are also important in releasing respired carbon from the deep ocean to the atmosphere. Our results thus highlight two distinct modes of Southern Ocean circulation and biogeochemistry associated with centennial-scale atmospheric CO2 jumps during the last deglaciation.

Timing and magnitude of Southern Ocean sea ice/carbon cycle feedbacks over the last eight glacial cycles

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Stein ◽  
Axel Timmermann ◽  
Eun Young Kwon ◽  
Tobias Friedrich
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Ocean Stratification ◽  
Ocean Ventilation ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;s1&quot;&gt;The Southern Ocean (SO) played a prominent role in the exchange of carbon between ocean and atmosphere on glacial timescales through its regulation of deep ocean ventilation. Previous studies indicated that SO sea ice could dynamically link several processes of carbon sequestration, but these studies relied on models with simplified ocean and sea ice dynamics or snapshot simulations with general circulation models. Here we use a transient run of the LOVECLIM intermediate complexity climate model, covering the past eight glacial cycles, to investigate the orbital-scale dynamics of deep ocean ventilation changes due to SO sea ice. Cold climates increase sea ice cover, sea-ice export, and Antarctic Bottom Water formation, which are accompanied by increased SO upwelling, stronger poleward export of Circumpolar Deep Water, and a reduction of the atmospheric exposure time of surface waters by a factor of ten. Moreover, increased brine formation around Antarctica enhances deep ocean stratification, which could act to decrease vertical mixing by a factor of four compared to the current climate. The impact of the two mechanisms on carbon sequestration was then tested within a steady-state carbon cycle. The two mechanisms combined can reduce atmospheric carbon by 40 ppm, of which approximately 30 ppm is due to ocean stratification. Moreover, ocean stratification from increased SO sea ice production acts early within glacial cycles to amplify the carbon cycle response.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

North Atlantic versus Southern Ocean contributions to a deglacial surge in deep ocean ventilation

Geology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 667-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.C. Skinner ◽  
A.E. Scrivner ◽  
D. Vance ◽  
S. Barker ◽  
S. Fallon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ocean Ventilation

scholarly journals Search for the Little Ice Age in Southern Ocean Sea-Ice Records

1990 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 221-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire L. Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Amundsen Sea ◽  
Ice Edge ◽  
Time Of Year ◽  
Sea Ice Edge ◽  
Eastern Weddell Sea

Records from the expeditions of Cook, Bellingshausen, Wilkes, and Ross in the late 18th and early 19th centuries have been examined for the information they provide on locations of the Southern Ocean sea-ice edge during the period of the late Little Ice Age in much of the Northern Hemisphere. When these locations are compared with satellite-derived ice edge locations in the mid 1970s, there is a suggestion of particularly heavy ice covers in the eastern Weddell Sea in December 1772, in the Amundsen Sea in March 1839, and perhaps, on the basis of an isolated observation, in a portion of the western Weddell Sea in January 1820. However, overall no strong Little Ice Age signal is found for the sea ice of the Southern Ocean. Many of the observations from the four expeditions indicate sea-ice edge locations that lie within the range of ice edge locations at the same time of year in the mid 1970s, and a few of the observations suggest a less extensive ice cover than in the 1970s.

scholarly journals Interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon reveals natural variability of Southern Ocean winds

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1123-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. B. Rodgers ◽  
S. E. Mikaloff-Fletcher ◽  
D. Bianchi ◽  
C. Beaulieu ◽  
E. D. Galbraith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
Climate Anomaly ◽  
Ocean Winds ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Ocean Wind ◽  
Earth System Models

Abstract. Tree ring Δ14C data (Reimer et al., 2004; McCormac et al., 2004) indicate that atmospheric Δ14C varied on multi-decadal to centennial timescales, in both hemispheres, over the period between AD 950 and 1830. The Northern and Southern Hemispheric Δ14C records display similar variability, but from the data alone is it not clear whether these variations are driven by the production of 14C in the stratosphere (Stuiver and Quay, 1980) or by perturbations to exchanges between carbon reservoirs (Siegenthaler et al., 1980). As the sea-air flux of 14CO2 has a clear maximum in the open ocean regions of the Southern Ocean, relatively modest perturbations to the winds over this region drive significant perturbations to the interhemispheric gradient. In this study, model simulations are used to show that Southern Ocean winds are likely a main driver of the observed variability in the interhemispheric gradient over AD 950–1830, and further, that this variability may be larger than the Southern Ocean wind trends that have been reported for recent decades (notably 1980–2004). This interpretation also implies that there may have been a significant weakening of the winds over the Southern Ocean within a few decades of AD 1375, associated with the transition between the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. The driving forces that could have produced such a shift in the winds at the Medieval Climate Anomaly to Little Ice Age transition remain unknown. Our process-focused suite of perturbation experiments with models raises the possibility that the current generation of coupled climate and earth system models may underestimate the natural background multi-decadal- to centennial-timescale variations in the winds over the Southern Ocean.

scholarly journals Deep ocean ventilation, carbon isotopes, marine sedimentation and the deglacial CO<sub>2</sub> rise

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1895-1958 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Tschumi ◽  
F. Joos ◽  
M. Gehlen ◽  
C. Heinze
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Carbon Cycle Model ◽  
Ocean Ventilation ◽  
Sediment Formation ◽  
Ocean Carbon

Abstract. The link between the atmospheric CO2 level and the ventilation state of the deep ocean is an important building block of the key hypotheses put forth to explain glacial-interglacial CO2 fluctuations. In this study, we systematically examine the sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 and its carbon isotope composition to changes in deep ocean ventilation, the ocean carbon pumps, and sediment formation in a global three-dimensional ocean-sediment carbon cycle model. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that a break up of Southern Ocean stratification and invigorated deep ocean ventilation were the dominant drivers for the early deglacial CO2 rise of ~35 ppm between the Last Glacial Maximum and 14.6 ka BP. Another rise of 10 ppm until the end of the Holocene is attributed to carbonate compensation responding to the early deglacial change in ocean circulation. Our reasoning is based on a multi-proxy analysis which indicates that an acceleration of deep ocean ventilation during the early deglaciation is not only consistent with recorded atmospheric CO2 but also with the reconstructed opal sedimentation peak in the Southern Ocean at around 16 ka BP, the record of atmospheric δ13CCO2, and the reconstructed changes in the Pacific CaCO3 saturation horizon.

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