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The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon (carbon not associated with a living thing, such as carbon dioxide) and organic carbon (carbon that is, or has been, incorporated into a living thing). Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.
The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon (carbon not associated with a living thing, such as carbon dioxide) and organic carbon (carbon that is, or has been, incorporated into a living thing). Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.
Biological oceanography is the study of how organisms affect and are affected by the physics, chemistry, and geology of the oceanographic system.Biological oceanography may also be referred to as ocean ecology, in which the root word of ecology is Oikos (oικoσ), meaning ‘house’ or ‘habitat’ in Greek.
After World War II, advancements in geochemical techniques propelled marine chemistry into a new era. Researchers began using isotopic analysis to study ocean circulation and the carbon cycle. Roger Revelle and Hans Suess pioneered using radiocarbon dating to investigate oceanic carbon reservoirs and their exchange with the atmosphere. [46]
Ocean mixed layer carbon, c m, is the only explicitly modelled ocean stock of carbon; though to estimate carbon cycle feedbacks the total ocean carbon is also calculated. [107] Current trends in climate change lead to higher ocean temperatures and acidity, thus modifying marine ecosystems. [108]
Carbon dioxide and methane are examples of greenhouse gases. The additional greenhouse effect leads to ocean warming because the ocean takes up most of the additional heat in the climate system. [3] The ocean also absorbs some of the extra carbon dioxide that is in the atmosphere. This causes the pH value of the seawater to drop. [4]
It is also intimately linked to the cycling of other elements and compounds. The ocean plays a fundamental role in Earth's carbon cycle, helping to regulate atmospheric CO 2 concentration. The biological pump is a set of processes that transfer organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean, and is at the heart of the ocean carbon cycle. [4]
Presently, about one third (approximately 2 gigatons of carbon per year) [2] [3] of anthropogenic emissions of CO 2 are believed to be entering the ocean. The solubility pump is the primary mechanism driving this flux, with the consequence that anthropogenic CO 2 is reaching the ocean interior via high latitude sites of deep water formation ...