ALBERT

Description: In the vast Low Nutrient Low-Chlorophyll (LNLC) Ocean, the vertical nutrient supply from the subsurface to the sunlit surface waters is low, and atmospheric contribution of nutrients may be one order of magnitude greater over short timescales. The short turnover time of atmospheric Fe and N supply (〈1 month for nitrate) further supports deposition being an important source of nutrients in LNLC regions. Yet, the extent to which atmospheric inputs are impacting biological activity and modifying the carbon balance in oligotrophic environments has not been constrained. Here, we quantify and compare the biogeochemical impacts of atmospheric deposition in LNLC regions using both a compilation of experimental data and model outputs. A metadata-analysis of recently conducted field and laboratory bioassay experiments reveals complex responses, and the overall impact is not a simple “fertilization effect of increasing phytoplankton biomass” as observed in HNLC regions. Although phytoplankton growth may be enhanced, increases in bacterial activity and respiration result in weakening of biological carbon sequestration. The application of models using climatological or time-averaged non-synoptic deposition rates produced responses that were generally much lower than observed in the bioassay experiments. We demonstrate that experimental data and model outputs show better agreement on short timescale (days to weeks) when strong synoptic pulse of aerosols deposition, similar in magnitude to those observed in the field and introduced in bioassay experiments, is superimposed over the mean atmospheric deposition fields. These results suggest that atmospheric impacts in LNLC regions have been underestimated by models, at least at daily to weekly timescales, as they typically overlook large synoptic variations in atmospheric deposition and associated nutrient and particle inputs. Inclusion of the large synoptic variability of atmospheric input, and improved representation and parameterization of key processes that respond to atmospheric deposition, is required to better constrain impacts in ocean biogeochemical models. This is critical for understanding and prediction of current and future functioning of LNLC regions and their contribution to the global carbon cycle.

Description: During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼21,000 years ago) the cold climate was strongly tied to low atmospheric CO〈inf〉2〈/inf〉 concentration (∼190 ppm). Although it is generally assumed that this low CO〈inf〉2〈/inf〉 was due to an expansion of the oceanic carbon reservoir, simulating the glacial level has remained a challenge especially with the additional δ13C constraint. Indeed the LGM carbon cycle was also characterized by a modern-like δ13C in the atmosphere and a higher surface to deep Atlantic δ13C gradient indicating probable changes in the thermohaline circulation. Here we show with a model of intermediate complexity, that adding three oceanic mechanisms: brine induced stratification, stratification-dependant diffusion and iron fertilization to the standard glacial simulation (which includes sea level drop, temperature change, carbonate compensation and terrestrial carbon release) decreases CO〈inf〉2〈/inf〉 down to the glacial value of ∼190 ppm and simultaneously matches glacial atmospheric and oceanic δ13C inferred from proxy data. LGM CO〈inf〉2〈/inf〉 and δ13C can at last be successfully reconciled.

Description: The Arctic Ocean is particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, a process that is mainly driven by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon (Cant) from the atmosphere. Although Cant concentrations cannot be measured directly in the ocean, they have been estimated using data‐based methods such as the transient time distribution (TTD) approach, which characterizes the ventilation of water masses with inert transient tracers, such as CFC‐12. Here, we evaluate the TTD approach in the Arctic Ocean using an eddying ocean model as a test bed. When the TTD approach is applied to simulated CFC‐12 in that model, it underestimates the same model's directly simulated Cant concentrations by up to 12%, a bias that stems from its idealized assumption of gas equilibrium between atmosphere and surface water, both for CFC‐12 and anthropogenic CO2. Unlike the idealized assumption, the simulated partial pressure of CFC‐12 (p CFC‐12) in Arctic surface waters is undersaturated relative to that in the atmosphere in regions and times of deep‐water formation, while the simulated equivalent for Cant is supersaturated. After accounting for the TTD approach's negative bias, the total amount of Cant in the Arctic Ocean in 2005 increases by 8% to 3.3 ± 0.3 Pg C. By combining the adjusted TTD approach with scenarios of future atmospheric CO2, it is estimated that all Arctic waters, from surface to depth, would become corrosive to aragonite by the middle of the next century even if atmospheric CO2 could be stabilized at 540 ppm.

Description: The coastal ocean contributes to regulating atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations by taking up carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). In this second phase of the Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP2), we quantify global coastal ocean fluxes of CO2, N2O and CH4 using an ensemble of global gap-filled observation-based products and ocean biogeochemical models. The global coastal ocean is a net sink of CO2 in both observational products and models, but the magnitude of the median net global coastal uptake is similar to 60% larger in models (-0.72 vs. -0.44 PgC year-1, 1998-2018, coastal ocean extending to 300 km offshore or 1,000 m isobath with area of 77 million km2). We attribute most of this model-product difference to the seasonality in sea surface CO2 partial pressure at mid- and high-latitudes, where models simulate stronger winter CO2 uptake. The coastal ocean CO2 sink has increased in the past decades but the available time-resolving observation-based products and models show large discrepancies in the magnitude of this increase. The global coastal ocean is a major source of N2O (+0.70 PgCO2-e year-1 in observational product and +0.54 PgCO2-e year-1 in model median) and CH4 (+0.21 PgCO2-e year-1 in observational product), which offsets a substantial proportion of the coastal CO2 uptake in the net radiative balance (30%-60% in CO2-equivalents), highlighting the importance of considering the three greenhouse gases when examining the influence of the coastal ocean on climate. The coastal ocean regulates greenhouse gases. It acts as a sink of carbon dioxide (CO2) but also releases nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) into the atmosphere. This synthesis contributes to the second phase of the Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP2) and provides a comprehensive view of the coastal air-sea fluxes of these three greenhouse gases at the global scale. We use a multi-faceted approach combining gap-filled observation-based products and ocean biogeochemical models. We show that the global coastal ocean is a net sink of CO2 in both observational products and models, but the coastal uptake of CO2 is similar to 60% larger in models than in observation-based products due to model-product differences in seasonality. The coastal CO2 sink is strengthening but the magnitude of this strengthening is poorly constrained. We also find that the coastal emissions of N2O and CH4 counteract a substantial part of the effect of coastal CO2 uptake in the atmospheric radiative balance (by 30%-60% in CO2-equivalents), highlighting the need to consider these three gases together to understand the influence of the coastal ocean on climate. We synthesize air-sea fluxes of CO2, nitrous oxide and methane in the global coastal ocean using observation-based products and ocean models The coastal ocean CO2 sink is 60% larger in ocean models than in observation-based products due to systematic differences in seasonality Coastal nitrous oxide and methane emissions offset 30%-60% of the CO2 coastal uptake in the net radiative balance