The potential benefits to the basin modeling enterprise of modularization and incorporating organic and inorganic chemical change

Mineral and hydrocarbon resources in basins are produced by fluid movements whose nature is not fully understood. Flow models in realistically defined basins that predict chemical change are needed to make progress, but these models will be difficult to develop and keep vital. Two simple examples are given to illustrate what is required, and the challenges to basin modeling are then outlined. It is argued that the best strategy is to modularize existing physical and chemical codes and place as many of these modules as possible in the public domain. This will keep the modeling enterprise open to the new entry and continuing invigoration.     

POC export from ocean surface waters by means of Th/U and Po/Pb disequilibria: A review of the use of two radiotracer pairs

²³⁴Th (T_1/2=24.1 d) and ²¹⁰Po (T_1/2=138.4 d) are particle reactive radioisotopes that are used as tracers for particle cycling in the upper ocean. Particulate organic carbon (POC) export has frequently been estimated using ²³⁴Th/²³⁸U disequilibrium. Recent evidence suggests that ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb disequilibrium may be used as an additional tool to examine particle export, given the direct biological uptake of ²¹⁰Po into cellular material. Differences in these two radioisotope pairs with regard to their half-lives, particle reactivity and scavenging affinity in seawater should provide complementary information to be obtained on the processes occurring in the water column. Here, we review eight different studies that have simultaneously used both approaches to estimate POC export fluxes from the surface ocean. Our aim is to provide a complete “dataset” of all the existing POC flux data derived from the coupled use of both ²³⁴Th and ²¹⁰Po and to evaluate the advantages and limitations of each tracer pair. Our analysis suggests that the simultaneous use of both radiotracers provides more useful comparative data than can be derived from the use of a single tracer alone. The difference in half-lives of ²³⁴Th and ²¹⁰Po enables the study of export production rates over different time scales. In addition, their different biogeochemical behaviour and preferred affinity for specific types of particles leads to the conclusion that ²³⁴Th is a better tracer of total mass flux, whereas ²¹⁰Po tracks POC export more specifically. The synthesis presented here is also intended to provide a basis for planning future sampling strategies and promoting further work in this field to help reveal the more specific application of each tracer under specific water column biogeochemistries.     

The organic carbon pump in the Atlantic

The growth, sinking and remineralisation of phytoplankton constitute the soft-tissue carbon pump. Here we derive the expression for the strength of this carbon pump in terms of the nutrient utilisation and the carbon:nutrient ratio of plankton. Furthermore, we aim to determine how the physical environment affects this carbon pump. Thereto, we have used a plankton physiological model with a novel representation of the effect of temperature and light on plankton stoichiometry; it predicts that the effect of temperature on the carbon:nutrient ratio depends on the light conditions. Using this model combined with a mechanistic model for the mixed layer, we have studied the biological carbon pump at the BATS site and at various locations along a meridional transect through the Atlantic Ocean. Our results suggest that the soft-tissue carbon pump is stronger at mid-latitudes than in the (sub-)tropics and near the poles as a consequence of latitudinal variations in algal stoichiometry.     

A model study on carbon cycle and phytoplankton dynamical processes in the Bohai Sea

The carbon cycle of lower trophic level in the Bohai Sea is studied with a three-dimensional biological and physical coupled model. The influences of the processes (including horizontal advection, river nutrient load, active transport etc. ) on the phytoplankton biomass and its evolution are estimated. The Bohai Sea is a weak sink of the CO2 in the atmosphere. During the cycle, 13.7% of the gross production of the phytoplankton enter the higher trophic level and 76.8 % of it are consumed by the respiration itself. The nutrient reproduction comes mainly from the internal biogeochemical loop and the rem-ineralization is an important mechanism of the nutrient transfer from organic form to inorganic. Horizontal advection decreases the total biomass and the eutrophication in some sea areas. Change in the nutrient load of a river can only adjust the local system near its estuary. Controlling the input of the nutrient, which limits the alga growth, can be very useful in lessening the phytoplankton biomass.     

Simulating Carbon Sequestration and GHGs Emissions in Abies fabric Forest on the Gongga Mountains Using a Biogeochemical Process Model Forest-DNDC

The process-oriented model Forest-DNDC describing biogeochemical cycling of C and N and GHGs (greenhouse gases) fluxes (CO2, NO and N2O) in forest ecosystems was applied to simulate carbon sequestration and GHGs emissions in Abies fabric forest of the Gongga Mountains at southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The results indicated that the simulated gross primary production (GPP) of Abies fabric forest was strongly affected by temperature. The annual total GPP was 24,245.3 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for 2005 and 26,318.8 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for 2006, respectively. The annual total net primary production (NPP) was 5,935.5 and 4,882.2 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for 2005 and 2006, and the annual total net ecosystem production (NEP) was 4,815.4 and 3,512.8 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for 2005 and 2006, respectively. The simulated seasonal variation in CO2 emissions generally followed the seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation. The annual total CO2 emissions were 3,109.0 and 4,821.0 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for 2005 and 2006, the simulated annual total N2O emissions from forest soil were 1.47 and 1.36 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 2005 and 2006, and the annual total NO emissions were 0.09 and 0.12 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for 2005 and 2006, respectively.     

Comparative biomass structure and estimated carbon flow in food webs in the deep Gulf of Mexico

A budget of the standing stocks and cycling of organic carbon associated with the sea floor has been generated for seven sites across a 3-km depth gradient in the NE Gulf of Mexico, based on a series of reports by co-authors on specific biotic groups or processes. The standing stocks measured at each site were bacteria, Foraminifera, metazoan meiofauna, macrofauna, invertebrate megafauna, and demersal fishes. Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) by the sediment-dwelling organisms was measured at each site using a remotely deployed benthic lander, profiles of oxygen concentration in the sediment pore water of recovered cores and ship-board core incubations. The long-term incorporation and burial of organic carbon into the sediments has been estimated using profiles of a combination of stable and radiocarbon isotopes. The total stock estimates, carbon burial, and the SCOC allowed estimates of living and detrital carbon residence time within the sediments, illustrating that the total biota turns over on time scales of months on the upper continental slope but this is extended to years on the abyssal plain at 3.6 km depth. The detrital carbon turnover is many times longer, however, over the same depths. A composite carbon budget illustrates that total carbon biomass and associated fluxes declined precipitously with increasing depth. Imbalances in the carbon budgets suggest that organic detritus is exported from the upper continental slope to greater depths offshore.The respiration of each individual “size” or functional group within the community has been estimated from allometric models, supplemented by direct measurements in the laboratory. The respiration and standing stocks were incorporated into budgets of carbon flow through and between the different size groups in hypothetical food webs. The decline in stocks and respiration with depth were more abrupt in the larger forms (fishes and megafauna), resulting in an increase in the relative predominance of smaller sizes (bacteria and meiofauna) at depth. Rates and stocks in the deep northern GoM appeared to be comparable to other continental margins where similar comparisons have been made.     

Particle export within cyclonic Hawaiian lee eddies derived from Pb–Po disequilibrium

Particle export from the upper waters of the oligotrophic ocean may play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Mesoscale eddies have been hypothesized to inject new nutrients into oligotrophic surface waters, thereby increasing new production and particle export in otherwise nutrient deficient regimes. The E-Flux Program was a large multidisciplinary project designed to investigate the physical, biological and biogeochemical characteristics of cold-core cyclonic eddies that form in the lee of the Hawaiian Islands. There, we investigated particle dynamics using ²¹⁰Pb–²¹⁰Po disequilibrium. Seawater samples for ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po were collected both within (IN) and outside (OUT) of two cyclones, Noah and Opal, at different stages of their evolution as well as from the eddy generation region. Particulate carbon (PC), particulate nitrogen (PN) and biogenic silica (bSiO₂) export fluxes were determined using water-column PC, PN, and bSiO₂ inventories and the residence times of ²¹⁰Po. PC and PN fluxes at 150 m ranged from 1.58±0.10 to 1.71±0.16 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.22±0.02 to 0.30±0.02 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹ within Cyclones Opal and Noah. PC and PN fluxes at OUT stations sampled during both cruises were of similar magnitudes, 1.69±0.16 to 1.67±0.16 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.30±0.03 to 0.26±0.03 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹. The bSiO₂ fluxes within Cyclone Opal were 0.157±0.010 mmol Si m⁻² d⁻¹ versus 0.025±0.002 mmol Si m⁻² d⁻¹ at OUT stations. These results of minimal PC and PN export, but significant eddy-induced bSiO₂ fluxes, agree very well with other studies that used a variety of direct and indirect methods. Thus, our results suggest that using elemental inventories and residence times of ²¹⁰Po is another independent and robust method for determining particle export and should be investigated more fully.     

浅析碳汇渔业所需的碳交易市场规模——基于海洋渔业生产数据的测算

文章通过构建博弈模型,研究引导渔民将海水养殖量减少至可持续发展的最优水平的长、短期策略。从长期看,实现海水养殖可持续发展有提高生产技术、改变市场结构和发展碳汇渔业3种策略;从短期看,发展碳汇渔业见效更快。文章利用数值模拟方法,测算出为发展碳汇渔业,所需的碳汇市场需求规模为1 480万t。该结果与我国碳汇市场发展实际数据基本一致。说明当前我国碳汇市场规模已经足够庞大,可以有效容纳碳汇渔业所提供的碳汇供给。     

1.5℃温升目标下中国碳排放路径研究

《巴黎协定》提出1.5℃目标以及中国2060年前达到碳中和的目标背景下,为研究实现1.5℃目标的技术路径,构建了综合性的能源-经济-环境系统模型,研究中国在2℃情景基础上实现1.5℃目标的额外减排要求、部门贡献和关键减排措施.结果显示,1.5℃情景要求到2050年CO2排放量减少到6亿t.一次能源消费总量2045年达峰...     

中国水泥行业节能减排措施的协同控制效应评估研究

水泥行业是温室气体与局地污染物协同控制的重点行业。以往该行业的协同控制评估或针对个别企业,或采用自上而下和自下而上模拟模型结合情景分析评估行业协同减排效益,尚缺乏系统评估水泥行业全系列节能减排措施（或技术）协同控制效果的研究。文中首先测算水泥行业24项节能减排措施综合大气污染物协同减排量,再通过协同控制效应坐标系、交叉弹性、单位污染物减排成本等评估指标和方法,对这些措施开展协同控制效果评估。结果表明大多数节能减排措施可协同减排局地大气污染物;协同减排潜力最大的是结构调整措施;能效提升与节能措施的协同减排成本较低,但减排潜力有限。本文强化了水泥行业节能减排措施的协同控制效能特性分析,可为水泥行业开展协同控制路径规划提供参考。