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Ocean-atmosphere partitioning of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on multimillennial timescales

Ocean-atmosphere partitioning of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on multimillennial timescales
Ocean-atmosphere partitioning of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on multimillennial timescales
Ocean-sediment and weathering interactions exert the primary control on how much anthropogenic-emitted CO2 remains in the atmosphere on timescales longer than about 1 kyr. Analytical theory is presented which predicts, from initial conditions, the remaining atmospheric fraction of emitted CO2 after equilibrium with CaCO3 burial in deep-sea sediments but before silicate weathering removes all excess CO2 on a >100 kyr timescale. The theoretical predictions of final atmospheric CO2 partial pressure are tested against independent integrations of the GENIE-1 Earth system model and are found to agree to within 10% for total emissions up to about 4000 PgC. The predicted theoretical relationship is linear and is based on the assumptions that ocean carbonate ion concentration is restored when CaCO3 burial reaches a new steady state, and that the steady state change in global ocean CO2* is proportional to the change in atmospheric CO2; where CO2* is the combined concentration of aqueous CO2 and carbonic acid. We find that the residual fraction of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere can be determined without explicit use of ocean [CO32?], even though this concentration is known to be important in controlling the depth interval over which CaCO3-rich sediments accumulate. The simple theory developed here is particularly suited for efficient assessment of events recorded in the geological record as well as anthropogenic CO2 influences on the long-term stability of ice sheets.
carbon cycling, carbonate compensation
0886-6236
GB2014-[13pp]
Goodwin, Philip
87dbb154-5c39-473a-8121-c794487ee1fd
Ridgwell, Andy
769cea5c-e033-456a-8b53-51dfa307dc35
Goodwin, Philip
87dbb154-5c39-473a-8121-c794487ee1fd
Ridgwell, Andy
769cea5c-e033-456a-8b53-51dfa307dc35

Goodwin, Philip and Ridgwell, Andy (2010) Ocean-atmosphere partitioning of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on multimillennial timescales. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 24 (2), GB2014-[13pp]. (doi:10.1029/2008GB003449).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Ocean-sediment and weathering interactions exert the primary control on how much anthropogenic-emitted CO2 remains in the atmosphere on timescales longer than about 1 kyr. Analytical theory is presented which predicts, from initial conditions, the remaining atmospheric fraction of emitted CO2 after equilibrium with CaCO3 burial in deep-sea sediments but before silicate weathering removes all excess CO2 on a >100 kyr timescale. The theoretical predictions of final atmospheric CO2 partial pressure are tested against independent integrations of the GENIE-1 Earth system model and are found to agree to within 10% for total emissions up to about 4000 PgC. The predicted theoretical relationship is linear and is based on the assumptions that ocean carbonate ion concentration is restored when CaCO3 burial reaches a new steady state, and that the steady state change in global ocean CO2* is proportional to the change in atmospheric CO2; where CO2* is the combined concentration of aqueous CO2 and carbonic acid. We find that the residual fraction of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere can be determined without explicit use of ocean [CO32?], even though this concentration is known to be important in controlling the depth interval over which CaCO3-rich sediments accumulate. The simple theory developed here is particularly suited for efficient assessment of events recorded in the geological record as well as anthropogenic CO2 influences on the long-term stability of ice sheets.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 29 May 2010
Published date: June 2010
Keywords: carbon cycling, carbonate compensation
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 350508
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/350508
ISSN: 0886-6236
PURE UUID: c7128e20-2ef0-42a3-ba6a-c91d2b16e329
ORCID for Philip Goodwin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2575-8948

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Date deposited: 26 Mar 2013 10:08
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:47

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Author: Philip Goodwin ORCID iD
Author: Andy Ridgwell

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