Lecture4碳的前世今生–Understandingtheglobalcarbon.pptVIP

The biological carbon pump Ocean gets a disproportionate share of the CO2 available to the ocean-atmosphere system (about 50 times larger). The main reason is that CO2 readily reacts with water to make soluble species of ions, the bicarbonate? (HCO3-). Another reason is the physical pump described previously: cold water holds more CO2 in solution than warm water. This cold, CO2-rich water is then pumped down by vertical mixing to depths. The last reason for the ocean’s big share of carbon is its ?biological pump: removing CO2 from the surface water of the ocean, changing it into living matter and distributing it to the deeper water layers. The biological pump: A Thought Experiment We start with a well-mixed ocean, dark and quite cold throughout. We then turn on the Sun and heat the ocean from above. A warm-water layer develops on top of the ocean, and since it is euphotic, green algae will now grow in this layer = CO2 is being fixed into carbon compounds (photosynthesis, you know). Some of these particles of the algae (dead organic stuff) sink out of the euphotic zone into the deeper cold waters. Others could be re-mineralized: decay by the action of bacteria, releasing CO2 back to the water. But how long can this process of carbon fixation (item 3), carbon settling (item 4), and carbon recycling (item 5) continue in our experiment? The biological pump: A Thought Experiment Answer: It can continue until all the nutrients that are necessary for photosynthesis have been used up. Used up all the nutrients? The sketch of oxygen profile with an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) at mid-depth (typically 1-km below sea surface) What about the recycling of nutrients (phosphorous, sulfur, and nitrogen) through decay of organic matter? Yes, the decay of the organic particles not only recycles carbon, but also the nutrients. However, the amount that is being recycled is diminished as the export of particles to deeper layers (and ocean bottom) continues. At some point, th