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The impact of remineralization depth on the air–sea carbon balance

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 630–635 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

As particulate organic carbon rains down from the surface ocean it is respired back to carbon dioxide and released into the ocean’s interior. The depth at which this sinking carbon is converted back to carbon dioxide—known as the remineralization depth—depends on the balance between particle sinking speeds and their rate of decay. A host of climate-sensitive factors can affect this balance, including temperature1, oxygen concentration2, stratification, community composition3,4 and the mineral content of the sinking particles5. Here we use a three-dimensional global ocean biogeochemistry model to show that a modest change in remineralization depth can have a substantial impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. For example, when the depth at which 63% of sinking carbon is respired increases by 24 m globally, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations fall by 10–27 ppm. This reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration results from the redistribution of remineralized carbon from intermediate waters to bottom waters. As a consequence of the reduced concentration of respired carbon in upper ocean waters, atmospheric carbon dioxide is preferentially stored in newly formed North Atlantic Deep Water. We suggest that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are highly sensitive to the potential changes in remineralization depth that may be caused by climate change.

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Figure 1: The response of the PO4 distribution to an increase in remineralization depth.
Figure 2: Sensitivities to changes in remineralization depth.
Figure 3: The DIC response decomposed into soft-tissue, carbonate and gas-exchange pump components.
Figure 4: The alkalinity response decomposed into soft-tissue and carbonate pump components.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Galbraith and R. Toggweiler for their valuable comments. F.P. acknowledges support from National Science Foundation grant OCE 0623647. E.Y.K. and J.L.S. acknowledge award NA07OAR4310096 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the US Department of Commerce.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, Princeton University, New Jersey 08544, USA

    Eun Young Kwon & Jorge L. Sarmiento

  2. Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA

    François Primeau

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Contributions

E.Y.K. and F.P. initiated the project. E.Y.K. carried out model simulations and analyses with advice from F.P. and J.L.S. E.Y.K. wrote the paper and the Supplementary Information with input from F.P. and J.L.S.

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Correspondence to Eun Young Kwon.

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Kwon, E., Primeau, F. & Sarmiento, J. The impact of remineralization depth on the air–sea carbon balance. Nature Geosci 2, 630–635 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo612

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