circulation of carbon dioxide in the ocean
DESCRIPTION
Circulation of Carbon Dioxide in the Ocean. It’s clever entrance and escape . Sarah Woodhouse. The Carbon Cycle. Trees breathe too. Into the Sea. The ocean alone contains 36,000 giga tons of carbon mostly in the form of bicarbonate ion which aids in the pH balance. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Circulation of Carbon Dioxide in the Ocean
It’s clever entrance and escape
Sarah Woodhouse
The Carbon Cycle
Trees breathe too
Into the SeaThe ocean alone contains 36,000 giga
tons of carbon mostly in the form of bicarbonate ion which aids in the pH balance.
Hurricanes and typhoons near the equator wash away sediments resulting in large amounts of carbon being buried.
20,000 leagues under the sea: Circulation in the deep oceanThermohaline Circulation: circulation below
the major wind-driven currents Key factor: density distribution function of
temperature and salinity
We didn’t start the fireHeat entering the ocean from the interior = 0.1% Contributing factors: vents, undersea volcanoes,
sea floor spreadingEarth geothermally heats the bottom of the ocean
creating small scale circulation
Hydrothermal activity releasing CO2Release rate of CO2 is assumed to be
proportional to mean spreading rateUnderwater volcanoes release droplets of CO2 Is the amount of CO2 absorbed by the ocean
enough to cause a change in global warming?
Air-sea interfaceNOAA’s project determines CO2 transferGas transfer velocity is dependent on
small scale surface wavesEssentially, gas transfer velocity is a
function of wind speed
Let the wind howlU10 is the wind speed at 10 meters above the surface,
k = transfer velocity Taken from various tank and buoy experiments
SINK or swimThe ocean acts as a sink to absorb much of
the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide into
the mixed layerWarm surface waters cause stratification
which can lead to stagnant waters and a decrease in the uptake of CO2
Sources Knauss http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11539654 http://www.po.gso.uri.edu/airsea/heidel.html http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/outstand/feel2331/feel2331.shtml Leovy, Jill. (April 29, 2010). Underwater volcanoes discovered off
California coast. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.physorg.com/news191775179.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCarbon/