Effects of physical changes in the ocean on the atmospheric pCO2: glacial-interglacial cycles     

Takasumi Kurahashi-Nakamura  Ayako Abe-Ouchi  Yasuhiro Yamanaka 《Climate Dynamics》2010,35(4):713-719

Based on LGM experiments with an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model, we systematically investigated the effects of physical changes in the ocean and induced biological effects as well on the low atmospheric CO₂ concentration (pCO₂) at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Numerical experiments with an oceanic carbon-cycle model showed that pCO₂ was lowered by ~30 ppm in the LGM ocean. Most of the pCO₂ reduction was explained by the change in CO₂ solubility in the ocean due to lower sea surface temperature (SST) during the LGM. Moreover, we found that SST changes in the high-latitude Northern Atlantic could explain more than one-third of the overall change in pCO₂ induced by global SST change, suggesting an important feedback between the Laurentide ice sheet and pCO₂.  相似文献