Evolutionary ecology of Early Paleocene planktonic foraminifera: size, depth habitat and symbiosis

Paleobiology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather S. Birch ◽  
Helen K. Coxall ◽  
Paul N. Pearson

The carbon stable isotope (δ13C) composition of the calcitic tests of planktonic foraminifera has an important role as a geochemical tracer of ocean carbon system changes associated with the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction event and its aftermath. Questions remain, however, about the extent of δ13C isotopic disequilibrium effects and the impact of depth habitat evolution on test calcite δ13C among rapidly evolving Paleocene species, and the influence this has on reconstructed surface-to-deep ocean dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) gradients. A synthesis of new and existing multispecies data, on the relationship between δ13C and δ18O and test size, sheds light on these issues. Results suggest that early Paleocene species quickly radiated into a range of depths habitats in a thermally stratified water column. Negative δ18O gradients with increasing test size in some species ofPraemuricasuggest either ontogenetic or ecotypic dependence on calcification temperature that may reflect depth/light controlled variability in symbiont photosynthetic activity. The pattern of positive δ13C test-size correlations allows us to (1) identify metabolic disequilibrium δ13C effects in small foraminifera tests, as occur in the immediate aftermath of the K/Pg event, (2) constrain the timing of evolution of foraminiferal photosymbiosis to 63.5 Ma, ∼0.9 Myr earlier than previously suggested, and (3) identify the apparent loss of symbiosis in a late-ranging morphotype ofPraemurica. These findings have implications for interpreting δ13C DIC gradients at a resolution appropriate for incoming highly resolved K/Pg core records.

1995 ◽  
Vol 348 (1324) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  

A model simulation of the global carbon cycle demonstrates that the biological and solubility pumps are of comparable importance in determining the spatial distribution of annual mean air-sea fluxes in the Atlantic. The model also confirms that the impact of the (steady state) biological pump on the magnitude and spatial distribution of anthropogenic CO 2 uptake is minimal. An Atlantic Ocean carbon budget developed from analysis of the model combined with observations suggests that the air-sea flux of carbon is inadequate to supply the postulated large dissolved inorganic carbon export from the Atlantic. Other sources of carbon are required, such as an input from the Pacific via the Bering Strait and Arctic, river inflow, or an import of dissolved organic carbon.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 925-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sarnthein ◽  
B. Schneider ◽  
P. M. Grootes

Abstract. Ice core records demonstrate a glacial-interglacial atmospheric CO2 increase of ~ 100 ppm. A transfer of ~ 530 Gt C is required to produce the deglacial rise of carbon in the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere. This amount is usually ascribed to oceanic carbon release, although the actual mechanisms remained elusive, since an adequately old and carbon-enriched deep-ocean reservoir seemed unlikely. Here we present a new, though still fragmentary, ocean-wide 14C dataset showing that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS-1) the 14C age difference between ocean deep waters and the atmosphere exceeded the modern values by up to 1500 14C yr, in the extreme reaching 5100 yr. Below 2000 m depth the 14C ventilation age of modern ocean waters is directly linked to the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). We assume that the range of regression slopes of DIC vs. Δ14C remained constant for LGM times, which implies that an average LGM aging by ~ 600 14C yr corresponded to a global rise by ~ 85–115 μmol DIC kg−1 in the deep ocean. Thus, the prolonged residence time of ocean deep waters indeed made it possible to absorb an additional ~ 730–980 Gt DIC, ~ 1/3 of which transferred from intermediate waters. We infer that LGM deep-water O2 dropped to suboxic values of < 10 μmol kg−1 in the Atlantic sector of the Southern ocean, possibly also in the subpolar North Pacific. The transfer of aged deep-ocean carbon to the atmosphere and the ocean-atmosphere exchange are sufficient to account for the 190-‰ drop in atmospheric 14C during the so-called HS-1 "Mystery Interval".


2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 4521-4557 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cao ◽  
M. Eby ◽  
A. Ridgwell ◽  
K. Caldeira ◽  
D. Archer ◽  
...  

Abstract. We assess uncertainties in projected oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 associated with uncertainties in model ocean transport using a suite of climate/carbon-cycle models. In response to a CO2 pulse emission of 590 Pg C (corresponding to an instantaneous doubling of atmospheric CO2 from 278 to 556 ppm), the fraction of CO2 emitted absorbed by the ocean (model mean ±2σ) is 37±8%, 56±10%, and 81±4% in year 30, 100, and 1000 after the emission pulse, respectively. Modeled oceanic uptake of excess CO2 on timescales from decades to about a century is strongly correlated with simulated present-day uptake of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and anthropogenic CO2, while the amount of excess CO2 absorbed by the ocean from a century to a millennium is strongly correlated with modeled radiocarbon in the deep Southern and Pacific Ocean. The rates of surface-to-deep ocean transport are determined for individual models from the instantaneous doubling CO2 experiments, and they are used to calculate oceanic uptake of CO2 in response to emission pulses of 1000 and 5000 Pg C. These results are compared with simulated oceanic uptake of CO2 from a number of model simulations with the coupling of climate-ocean carbon cycle and without it. This comparison demonstrates that the impact of different ocean transport rate across models on the oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 is of similar magnitude as that of climate-carbon cycle feedbacks in a single model associated with changes in temperature, circulation, and marine biology, emphasizing the importance of ocean transport in the fate of anthropogenic CO2.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 2877-2902 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Orr ◽  
J.-M. Epitalon

Abstract. Software used by modelers to compute ocean carbonate chemistry is often based on code from the Ocean Carbon Cycle Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP), last revised in 2005. As an update, we offer here new publicly available Fortran 95 routines to model the ocean carbonate system (mocsy). Both codes take as input dissolved inorganic carbon CT and total alkalinity AT, the only two tracers of the ocean carbonate system that are unaffected by changes in temperature and salinity and conservative with respect to mixing, properties that make them ideally suited for ocean carbon models. With the same basic thermodynamic equilibria, both codes compute surface-ocean pCO2 in order to simulate air–sea CO2 fluxes. The mocsy package goes beyond the OCMIP code by computing all other carbonate system variables (e.g., pH, CO32−, and CaCO3 saturation states) and by doing so throughout the water column. Moreover, it avoids three common model approximations: that density is constant, that modeled potential temperature is equivalent to in situ temperature, and that depth is equivalent to pressure. These approximations work well at the surface, but total errors in computed variables grow with depth, e.g., reaching −8 μatm in pCO2, +0.010 in pH, and +0.01 in ΩA at 5000 m. Besides the equilibrium constants recommended for best practices, mocsy also offers users three new options: (1) a recent formulation for total boron that increases its ocean content by 4%, (2) an older formulation for KF common to all other such software, and (3) recent formulations for K1 and K2 designed to also include low-salinity waters. More total boron increases borate alkalinity and reduces carbonate alkalinity, which is calculated as a difference from total alkalinity. As a result, the computed surface pCO2 increases by 4 to 6 μatm, while the computed aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) shallows by 60 m in the North Atlantic and by up to 90 m in the Southern Ocean. Changes due to the new formulation for K1 and K2 enhance pCO2 by up to 8 μatm in the deep ocean and in high-latitude surface waters. These changes are comparable in magnitude to errors in the same regions associated with neglecting nutrient contributions to total alkalinity, a common practice in ocean biogeochemical modeling. The mocsy code with the standard options for best practices and none of the 3 approximations agrees with results from the CO2SYS package generally within 0.005%.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1563-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Bouttes ◽  
D. M. Roche ◽  
V. Mariotti ◽  
L. Bopp

Abstract. The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration plays a crucial role in the radiative balance and as such has a strong influence on the evolution of climate. Because of the numerous interactions between climate and the carbon cycle, it is necessary to include a model of the carbon cycle within a climate model to understand and simulate past and future changes of the carbon cycle. In particular, natural variations of atmospheric CO2 have happened in the past, while anthropogenic carbon emissions are likely to continue in the future. To study changes of the carbon cycle and climate on timescales of a few hundred to a few thousand years, we have included a simple carbon cycle model into the iLOVECLIM Earth System Model. In this study, we describe the ocean and terrestrial biosphere carbon cycle models and their performance relative to observational data. We focus on the main carbon cycle variables including the carbon isotope ratios δ13C and the Δ14C. We show that the model results are in good agreement with modern observations both at the surface and in the deep ocean for the main variables, in particular phosphates, dissolved inorganic carbon and the carbon isotopes.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Eggleston ◽  
Eric D. Galbraith

Abstract. Ocean dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) storage can be conceptualized as the sum of four components: saturation (DICsat), disequilibrium (DICdis), carbonate (DICcarb) and soft tissue (DICsoft). Among these, DICdis and DICsoft have the potential for large changes that are relatively difficult to predict. Here we explore changes in DICsoft and DICdis in a large suite of simulations with a complex coupled climate-biogeochemical model, driven by changes in orbital forcing, ice sheets and the radiative effect of CO2. Both DICdis and DICsoft vary over a range of 40 μmol kg−1 in response to the climate forcing, equivalent to changes in atmospheric CO2 on the order of 50 ppm for each. We find that, despite the broad range of climate states represented, changes in global DICsoft can be well-approximated by the product of deep ocean ideal age and the global export production flux, while global DICdis is dominantly controlled by the fraction of the ocean filled by Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). Because the AABW fraction and ideal age are inversely correlated between the simulations, DICdis and DICsoft are also inversely correlated. This inverse correlation could be decoupled if changes in deep ocean mixing were to alter ideal age independently of AABW fraction, or if independent ecosystem changes were to alter export and remineralization, thereby modifying DICsoft. As an example of the latter, iron fertilization causes DICsoft to increase, and causes DICdis to also increase by a similar or greater amount, to a degree that depends on climate state. We propose a simple framework to consider the global contribution of DICsoft + DICdis to ocean carbon storage as a function of the surface preformed nitrate and DICdis of dense water formation regions, the global volume fractions ventilated by these regions, and the global nitrate inventory. More extensive sea ice increases DICdis, and when sea ice becomes very extensive it also causes significant O2 disequilibrium, which may have contributed to reconstructions of low O2 in the Southern Ocean during the glacial. Global DICdis reaches a minimum near modern CO2 because the AABW fraction reaches a minimum, which may have contributed to preventing further CO2 rise during interglacial periods.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 2595-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sarnthein ◽  
B. Schneider ◽  
P. M. Grootes

Abstract. Ice core records demonstrate a glacial–interglacial atmospheric CO2 increase of ~ 100 ppm, while 14C calibration efforts document a strong decrease in atmospheric 14C concentration during this period. A calculated transfer of ~ 530 Gt of 14C-depleted carbon is required to produce the deglacial coeval rise of carbon in the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere. This amount is usually ascribed to oceanic carbon release, although the actual mechanisms remained elusive, since an adequately old and carbon-enriched deep-ocean reservoir seemed unlikely. Here we present a new, though still fragmentary, ocean-wide Δ14C data set showing that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS-1) the maximum 14C age difference between ocean deep waters and the atmosphere exceeded the modern values by up to 1500 14C yr, in the extreme reaching 5100 14C yr. Below 2000 m depth the 14C ventilation age of modern ocean waters is directly linked to the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). We propose as a working hypothesis that the modern regression of DIC vs. Δ14C also applies for LGM times, which implies that a mean LGM aging of ~ 600 14C yr corresponded to a global rise of ~ 85–115 μmol DIC kg−1 in the deep ocean. Thus, the prolonged residence time of ocean deep waters may indeed have made it possible to absorb an additional ~ 730–980 Gt DIC, one third of which possibly originated from intermediate waters. We also infer that LGM deep-water O2 dropped to suboxic values of < 10 μmol kg−1 in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, possibly also in the subpolar North Pacific. The deglacial transfer of the extra-aged, deep-ocean carbon to the atmosphere via the dynamic ocean–atmosphere carbon exchange would be sufficient to account for two trends observed, (1) for the increase in atmospheric CO2 and (2) for the 190‰ drop in atmospheric Δ14C during the so-called HS-1 "Mystery Interval", when atmospheric 14C production rates were largely constant.


1997 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 111-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achim Stössel

This paper investigates the long-term impact of sea ice on global climate using a global sea-ice–ocean general circulation model (OGCM). The sea-ice component involves state-of-the-art dynamics; the ocean component consists of a 3.5° × 3.5° × 11 layer primitive-equation model. Depending on the physical description of sea ice, significant changes are detected in the convective activity, in the hydrographic properties and in the thermohaline circulation of the ocean model. Most of these changes originate in the Southern Ocean, emphasizing the crucial role of sea ice in this marginally stably stratified region of the world's oceans. Specifically, if the effect of brine release is neglected, the deep layers of the Southern Ocean warm up considerably; this is associated with a weakening of the Southern Hemisphere overturning cell. The removal of the commonly used “salinity enhancement” leads to a similar effect. The deep-ocean salinity is almost unaffected in both experiments. Introducing explicit new-ice thickness growth in partially ice-covered gridcells leads to a substantial increase in convective activity, especially in the Southern Ocean, with a concomitant significant cooling and salinification of the deep ocean. Possible mechanisms for the resulting interactions between sea-ice processes and deep-ocean characteristics are suggested.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 2222-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Oglesby ◽  
Monica Y. Stephens ◽  
Barry Saltzman

Abstract A coupled mixed layer–atmospheric general circulation model has been used to evaluate the impact of ocean thermocline temperatures (and by proxy those of the deep ocean) on the surface climate of the earth. Particular attention has been devoted to temperature regimes both warmer and cooler than at present. The mixed layer ocean model (MLOM) simulates vertical dynamics and thermodynamics in the upper ocean, including wind mixing and buoyancy effects, and has been coupled to the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM3). Simulations were made with globally uniform thermocline warmings of +2°, +5°, and +10°C, as well as a globally uniform cooling of −5°C. A simulation was made with latitudinally varying changes in thermocline temperature such that the warming at mid- and high latitudes is much larger than at low latitudes. In all simulations, the response of surface temperature over both land and ocean was larger than that expected just as a result of the imposed thermocline temperature change, largely because of water vapor feedbacks. In this respect, the simulations were similar to those in which only changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide were imposed. In fact, when carbon dioxide was explicitly changed along with thermocline temperatures, the results were not much different than if only the thermocline temperatures were altered. Land versus ocean differences are explained largely by latent heat flux differences: the ocean is an infinite evaporative source, while land can be quite dry. The latitudinally varying case has a much larger response at mid- to high latitudes than at low latitudes; the high latitudes actually appear to effectively warm the low latitudes. Simulations exploring scenarios of glacial inception suggest that the deep ocean alone is not likely to be a key trigger but must operate in conjunction with other forcings, such as reduced carbon dioxide. Moist upland regions at mid- and high latitudes, and land regions adjacent to perennial sea ice, are the preferred locations for glacial inception in these runs. Finally, the model combination equilibrates very rapidly, meaning that a large number of simulations can be made for a fairly modest computational cost. A drawback to this is greatly reduced sensitivity to parameters such as atmospheric carbon dioxide, which requires a full response of the ocean. Thus, this approach can be considered intermediate between fixing, or prescribing, sea surface temperatures and a fully coupled modeling approach.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Mariano Lopes da Silva ◽  
Jean Pierre Henry Balbaud Ometto ◽  
Gré de Araújo Lobo ◽  
Walter de Paula Lima ◽  
Marcos Augusto Scaranello ◽  
...  

Several studies in tropical watersheds have evaluated the impact of urbanization and agricultural practices on water quality. In Brazil, savannas (known regionally as Cerrados) represent 23% of the country's surface, representing an important share to the national primary growth product, especially due to intense agriculture. The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive evaluation, on a yearly basis, of carbon, nitrogen and major ion fluxes in streams crossing areas under different land use (natural vegetation, sugar cane and eucalyptus) in a savanna region of SE Brazil. Eucalyptus and sugar cane alter the transport of the investigated elements in small watersheds. The highest concentration of all parameters (abiotic parameters, ions, dissolved organic carbon DOC - and dissolved inorganic carbon - DIC) were found in Sugar Cane Watersheds (SCW). The observed concentrations of major cations in Eucalyptus Watersheds (EW) (Mg, Ca, K, Na), as well as DIN and DOC, were found frequently to be intermediate values between those of Savanna Watersheds (SW) and SCW, suggesting a moderate impact of eucalyptus plantations on the streamwater. Same trends were found in relation to ion and nutrient fluxes, where the higher values corresponded to SCW. It is suggested that sugar cane plantations might be playing an important role in altering the chemistry of water bodies.


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