The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

8.18 - The biological pump in the past

8.18 - The biological pump in the past
8.18 - The biological pump in the past
The ocean's ‘biological pump’ refers to the coupled biological, chemical, and physical processes that work to concentrate carbon and other biologically active elements in the voluminous ocean interior, sequestering them from the surface ocean and the atmosphere. Current research seeks to understand the relationship of the ocean's biological pump to the Earth's environmental, chemical, and climatic history. Changes in the efficiency of the biological pump are central to most current hypotheses for the cause of the coherent variations of atmospheric CO2 over the ice age climate cycles (i.e., glacial vs. interglacial stages). Here, we review the concepts, tools, and observations relating to this topic. While the biological pump is driven by biological activity in the sunlit surface ocean, its global efficiency is shown to be affected by the ocean's physical circulation, and its net effect on atmospheric CO2 is shown to work through the ocean's acid–base chemistry. We integrate these findings into a proposed recipe for the major dynamics driving CO2 change over the past 800 000 years.
biological pump, carbon cycle, carbonate pump, glacial/interglacial cycles, soft-tissue pump
978-0-08-043751-4
485-517
Elsevier
Hain, M.P.
d31486bc-c473-4c34-a814-c0834640876c
Sigman, D.M.
84ca0cf1-decc-4133-b104-4fc3ee751721
Haug, G.H.
39dd0949-c65e-4f26-ad5f-41ddb5bafadb
Hain, M.P.
d31486bc-c473-4c34-a814-c0834640876c
Sigman, D.M.
84ca0cf1-decc-4133-b104-4fc3ee751721
Haug, G.H.
39dd0949-c65e-4f26-ad5f-41ddb5bafadb

Hain, M.P., Sigman, D.M. and Haug, G.H. (2014) 8.18 - The biological pump in the past. In, Treatise on Geochemistry (Second Edition). Volume 8: The Oceans and Marine Geochemistry. Amsterdam, NL. Elsevier, pp. 485-517. (doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00618-5).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The ocean's ‘biological pump’ refers to the coupled biological, chemical, and physical processes that work to concentrate carbon and other biologically active elements in the voluminous ocean interior, sequestering them from the surface ocean and the atmosphere. Current research seeks to understand the relationship of the ocean's biological pump to the Earth's environmental, chemical, and climatic history. Changes in the efficiency of the biological pump are central to most current hypotheses for the cause of the coherent variations of atmospheric CO2 over the ice age climate cycles (i.e., glacial vs. interglacial stages). Here, we review the concepts, tools, and observations relating to this topic. While the biological pump is driven by biological activity in the sunlit surface ocean, its global efficiency is shown to be affected by the ocean's physical circulation, and its net effect on atmospheric CO2 is shown to work through the ocean's acid–base chemistry. We integrate these findings into a proposed recipe for the major dynamics driving CO2 change over the past 800 000 years.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 6 November 2013
Published date: 2014
Additional Information: This article is a revision of the previous edition article by D. M. Sigman and G. H. Haug, volume 6, pp. 491–528, © 2003, Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: biological pump, carbon cycle, carbonate pump, glacial/interglacial cycles, soft-tissue pump
Organisations: Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 358630
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/358630
ISBN: 978-0-08-043751-4
PURE UUID: b48bc706-6546-400d-889c-dbd14dfafc6d

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Oct 2013 13:50
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 15:06

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: M.P. Hain
Author: D.M. Sigman
Author: G.H. Haug

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×