Abstract
A three-dimensional model of the natural carbon cycle in the oceans is described. The model is an extension of the inorganic ocean-circulation carbon cycle model of Maier-Reimer and Hasselmann (1987) to include the effect of the ocean biota. It is based on a dynamic, general circulation model of the world oceans. Chemical species important to the carbon cycle are advected by the current field of the general circulation model. Mixing occurs through numerical diffusivity (related to finite box size), a small explicit horizontal diffusivity, and a convective adjustment. An atmospheric box exchanges CO2 with the surface ocean. There is no land biota provided in the present version of the model. The effect of the ocean biota on ocean chemistry is represented in a simple way and model distributions of chemical species are compared with distributions observed during the GEOSECS and other expeditions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Arakawa A, Lamb VR (1977) Computational design of the basic dynamical processes of the UCLA general circulation model. Methods Comput Phys 17:173–265
Bacastow RB (1981) Numerical evaluation of the evasion factor. In: Bolin B (ed) Scope 16: Carbon cycle Modelling. John Wiley, New York, pp 95–101
Bacastow R, Björkström A (1981) Chapter 2: Comparison of ocean models for the carbon cycle. In: Bolin B (ed) Scope 16: Carbon cycle modelling. John Wiley, New York
Bacastow R, Maier-Reimer E (1990) Modeling oceanic new production. In: Keir R (ed) Interaction of the global carbon and climate systems. Electric Power Research Institute Report (in press)
Beinbridge AE (undated) GEOSECS Atlantic expedition, Volume 2, Sections and profiles. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, Stock No. 038-000-00435-2
Bathen KH (1972) On the seasonal changes in the depth of the mixed layer in the North Pacific Ocean. J Geophys Res 77:7138–7150
Berger WH, Fischer K, Lai C, Wu G (1987) Ocean productivity and organic carbon flux, Part I: Overview and maps of primary production and export production, SIO Ref. 87–30. Univ. Calif., San Diego, La Jolla; also Berger WH (1989) Appendix: Global maps of ocean productivity. In Berger WH, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the ocean, present and past. John Wiley, New York, pp 429–455
Boyle EA, Keigwin LD (1982) Deep circulation of the North Atlantic over the last 200 000 years: geochemical evidence. Science 218:784–787
Brewer PG (1986) What controls the variability of carbon dioxide in the surface ocean? A plea for complete information. In: Burton JD, Brewer PG, Chesselet R (eds) Dynamic Processes in the Chemistry of the Upper Ocean. Plenum Press New York, pp 215–231
Brewer PG, Wong GTF, Bacon MP, Spencer DW (1975) An oceanic calcium problem? Earth Plant Sci Lett 26:81–87
Broecker WS, Peng T-H (1982) Tracers in the sea. Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York, 691 p
Chen CTA, Feely RA, Gendron JF (1988) Lysocline, calcium carbonate compensation depth and calcareous sediments in the North Pacific Ocean, Contribution No. 974. NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Clarke RA (1985) Temporal and spatial scales of Laborador sea water formation. In: Bennett T, Broecker W, Hansen J (eds) North Atlantic deep water formation. NASA Conference Publication 2367, pp 7–11
Craig H, Broecker WS, Spenser D (1981) GEOSECS Pacific expedition, volume 4, sections and profiles. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402
Defant A (1961) Physical oceanography, Vol. I. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 56–59
Delmas RJ, Ascencio JM, Legrand M (1980) Polar ice evidence that atmospheric CO2 20 000 yr BP was 50% of present. Nature 284:155–159
Detwiler RP, Hall CAS (1988) Tropical forests and the global carbon cycle. Science 239:42–47
De Vooys CGN (1979) Primary production in aquatic environments. In Scope 13: Bolin B, Degens ET, Kempe S, Ketner P (eds) The global carbon cycle. John Wiley & Son, New York, pp 259–292
Dickson AG, Millero FJ (1987) A comparison of the equilibrium constants for the dissociation of carbonic acid in sea water media, Deep Sea Res 34:1733–1743
Druffel EM (1980) Radiocarbon in annual coral rings of Florida and Belize, Radiocarbon 22:363–371
Druffel EM (1981) Radiocarbon in annual coral rings from the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, Geophys Res Lett 8:59–62
Druffel EM, Linick TW (1978) Radiocarbon in annnual coral rings of Florida, Geophys Res Lett 5:913–916
Druffel EM, Suess HE (1983) On the radiocarbon record in banded corals: exchange parameters and net transport of 14CO2 between atmosphere and surface ocean. J Geophys Res 88:1271–1280
Dugdale RC (1967) Nutrient limitation in the sea: dynamics, identification and significance, Limn. Oceanogr 12:685–695
Eppley RW, Peterson BJ (1979) Particulate organic matter flux and planktonic new production in the deep ocean. Nature 282:677–680
Erickson DJ III (1989) Variations in the global air-sea transfer velocity field of CO2. Gobal Biogeochemical Cycles 3:37–41
Fiadeiro M (1980) Carbon cycling in the ocean. In: Falkowski PG (ed) Primary productivity in the sea. Plenum Press, New York, pp 487–495
Friedli H, Lötscher H, Oeschger H, Siegenthaler U, Stauffer B (1986) Ice core record of the 13C/12C ratio of atmospheric CO2 in the past two centuries. Nature 324:237–238
Gieskes WWC, Kraay GW, Baars MA (1979) Current 14C methods for measuring primary production: gross underestimates in oceanic waters. Neth J Sea Res 13:58–78
Hasselmann K (1982) An ocean model for climate variability studies. Prog Oceanogr 11:69–92
Heimann M, Monfray P (1990) Spatial and temporal variations of the gas-exchange coefficient for CO2: 1. Data analysis. Geophys Res (in press)
Holtslag AAM, Ulden AP van (1983) A simple scheme for daytime estimates of the surface fluxes from routine weather data. J Climate and App Met 22:517–529
Honjo S, Manganini SJ, Cole J (1982) Sedimentation of biogenic matter in the deep ocean. Deep Sea Research 29:609–625
Houghton RA, Hobbie JE, Melillo JM, Moore B, Peterson BJ, Shaver GR, Woodwell GM (1983) Changes in the carbon content of terrestrial biota and soils between 1860 and 1980: a net release of CO2 to the atmosphere. Ecological Monographs 53(3):235–262
Jenkins WJ (1982) Oxygen utilization rates in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre and primary productivity in oligotrophic systems. Nature 300:246–248
Keeling CD (1968) Carbon dioxide in surface waters. 4. Global distributon. J Geophys Res 73:4543–4553
Keeling CD (1973) The carbon dioxide cycle: reservoir models to depict the exchange of atmospheric carbon dioxide with the oceans and land plants. In: Rasool SI (ed) Chemistry of the lower atmosphere. Plenum Press, pp 251–329
Keeling CD (1981) The modeling of rare isotopic carbon with regard to notations. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon cycle modelling. John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp 89–94
Keeling CD, Piper SC, Heimann M (1989) A three dimensional model of atmospheric CO2 transport based on observed winds: 4. Mean annual gradients and interannual variations. In: Aspects of climate variability in the pacific and the Western Americas. American Geophysical Union Monograph, pp 305–363
Knox F, McElroy MB (1984) Changes in atmospheric CO2: influence of marine biota at high latitude. J Geophys Res 89:4629–4637
Koblentz-Mishke OL, Volkovinsky VV, Kabanova JG (1970) Plankton primary production of the world ocean. Scientific exploration of the south pacific, Book No. 309–01755–6. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C., pp 183–193
Kroopnick PM (1985) The distribution of 13C of ΣCO2 in the world oceans. Deep Sea Research 32:57–84
Kroopnick PM, Margolis SV, Wong CS (1977) δ13C variations in marine carbonate sediments as indicators of the CO2 balance between the atmosphere and oceans. In: Andersen NR, Malahoff A (eds) The fate of fossil fuel CO2 in the oceans. Plenum Press, New York, pp 295–321
Maier-Reimer E, Hasselmann K (1987) Transport and storage of CO2 in the ocean — an inorganic ocean-circulation carbon cycle model. Climate Dynamics 2:63–90
Maier-Reimer E, Hasselmann K, Olbers D, Willebrand J (1982) An ocean circulation model for climate variability studies. Technical Report, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany
Mook WG, Bommerson JC, Staverman WH (1974) Carbonate isotope fractionation between dissolved bicarbonate and gaseous carbon dioxide. Earth and Planet Lett 22:169–176
Neftel A, Oeschger H, Schwander J, Stauffer B, Zumbrunn R (1982) Ice core sample measurements give atmospheric CO2 content during the past 40 000 yr. Nature 295:220–223
Nozaki Y, Rye DM, Turekian KK, Dodge RE (1978) A 200-year record of carbon-13 and carbon-14 variations in Bermuda coral, Geophys Res Lett 5:825–828
Oeschger H, Siegenthaler U, Schotterer U, Gugelmann A (1975) A box diffusion model to study the carbon dioxide exchange in nature. Tellus 27:168–192
Östlund HG, Stuiver M (1980) GEOSECS Pacific radiocarbon. Radiocarbon 22:25–53
Peng T-H, Broecker WS (1987) C/P ratios in marine detritus. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 1:155–161
Radach G, Maier-Reimer E (1975) The vertical structure of phytoplankton growth dynamics — a mathematical model. Mémoires Société Royal des Sciences de Liége, 6e série, tome VII, pp 113–146
Reid JL, Brinton E, Fleminger A, Venrick EL, McGowan JA (1978) Ocean circulation and Marine Life. In: Charnock H, Deacon G (eds) Advances in oceanography. Plenum Press, New York, pp 65–130
Rotty RM (1987) A look at the 1983 CO2 emissions from fossil fuels (with preliminary data for 1984). Tellus 39B:203–208
Sarmiento JL, Toggweiler JR (1984) A new model for the role of the oceans in determining atmospheric PCO2. Nature 308:621–624
Schulenberger E, Reid JL (1981) The Pacific oxygen maximum, deep chlorophyll maximum, and primary production, reconsidered. Deep Sea Res 28A:901–919
Siegenthaler U (1983) Uptake of excess CO2 by an outcrop-diffusion model of the ocean. J Geophys Res 88:3599–3608
Siegenthaler U, Münnich KO (1981) 13C/12C fractionation during CO2 transfer from air to sea. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon cycle modelling. John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp 249–257
Siegenthaler U, Wenk Th (1984) Rapid atmospheric CO2 variations and ocean circulation. Nature 308:624–626
Spenser D, Broecker WS, Craig H, Weiss RF (1982) GEOSECS Indian ocean expedition, volume 6, sections and profiles. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402
Stuiver M, Östlund HG (1980) GEOSECS Atlantic radiocarbon. Radiocarbon 22:1–24
Stuiver M, Östlund HG (1983) GEOSECS Indian ocean and mediterranean radiocarbon. Radiocarbon 25:1–29
Stuiver M, Östlund HG, McConnaughey TA (1981) GEOSECS Atlantic and pacific 14C distribution. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon Cycle modelling. John Wiley & Sons, pp 201–226
Takahashi T, Broecker WS, Bainbridge AE (1981a) Supplement to the alkalinity and total carbon dioxide concentration in the World Oceans. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon cycle modelling. John Wiley & Sons, pp 159–199
Takahashi T, Broecker WS, Bainbridge AE (1981b) The alkalinity and total carbon dioxide concentration in the World Oceans. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon cycle modelling. John Wiley & Sons, pp 271–286
Takahashi T, Broecker WS, Langer S (1985) Redfield ratio based on chemical data from isopycnal surfaces. J Geophys Res 90:6907–6924
Takahashi T, Chipman D, Volk T (1983) Geographical, seasonal, and secular variations of the partial pressure of CO2 in surface waters of the North Atlantic Ocean: the results of the North Atlantic TTO program, II.123–II.145. In: Proceedings of carbon dioxide research conference: carbon dioxide, science and consensus, Sept. 19–23, 1982, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, USA, CONF-820970, US Dept of Energy, Washington DC, available from NTIS, Springfield, Va., USA
Tans P (1981a) A compilation of bomb 14C data for use in global carbon model calculations. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon cycle modelling. pp 131–157
Tans P (1981b) 13C/12C of industrial CO2. In Scope 16: Bolin B (ed) Carbon cycle modelling. John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp 127–129
Volk T, Hoffert MI (1985) Ocean carbon pumps: analysis of relative strengths and efficiencies in ocean-driven atmospheric CO2 changes. In: Sundquist ET, Broecker WS (eds) The carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2: Natural variations archean to present. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 99–110
Volk T, Liu Z (1988) Controls of CO2 sources and sinks in the earthscale surface ocean: temperature, nutrients. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2:73–89
Walsh JJ (1975) A spatial simulation model of the Peru upwelling ecosystem. Deep Sea Res 22:201–236
Weiss RF (1970) The solubility of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon in water and sea water. Deep Sea Res 17:721–735
Weiss RF (1974) Carbon dioxide in water and sea water: The solubility of a non-ideal gas. Marine Chem 2:203–215
Wroblewski JS (1977) A model of phytoplankton plume formation during variable Oregon upwelling. J Marine Res 35–2:357–394
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Offprint requests to: R Bacastow
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bacastow, R., Maier-Reimer, E. Ocean-circulation model of the carbon cycle. Climate Dynamics 4, 95–125 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208905
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208905