Model simulations of carbon sequestration in the northwest Pacific by patch fertilization

Iron fertilization of nutrient-rich surface waters of the ocean is one possible way to help slow the rising levels of atmospheric CO₂ by sequestering it in the oceans via biological carbon export. Here, I use an ocean general circulation model to simulate a patch of nutrient depletion in the subpolar northwest Pacific under various scenarios. Model results confirm that surface fertilization is an inefficient way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere (Gnanadesikan et al., 2003), since only about 20% of the exported carbon comes initially from the atmosphere. Fertilization reduces future production and thus CO₂ uptake by utilizing nutrients that would otherwise be available later. Effectively, this can be considered as leakage when compared to a control run. This “effective” leakage and the actual leakage of sequestered CO₂ cause a significant, rapid decrease in carbon retention (only 30–45% retained after 10 years and less than 20% after 50 years). This contrasts markedly with the almost 100% retention efficiency for the same duration using the same model, when carbon is disposed directly into the northwest Pacific (Matsumoto and Mignone, 2005). As a consequence, the economic effectiveness of patch fertilization is poor in two limiting cases of the future price path of carbon. Sequestered carbon in patch fertilization is lost to the atmosphere at increasingly remote places as time passes, which would make monitoring exceedingly difficult. If all organic carbon from one-time fertilization reached the ocean bottom and remineralized there, acidification would be about −0.05 pH unit with O₂ depletion about −20 μmol kg⁻¹. These anomalies are probably too small to seriously threaten deep sea biota, but they are underestimated in the model because of its large grid size. The results from this study offer little to advocate purposeful surface fertilization as a serious means to address the anthropogenic carbon problem.     

中国近海沿岸海温多时间尺度变率及影响其变化的天气气候因素

本文通过对中国近海13个海洋站1959年～2003年逐日日平均海表温度及其相关数据的处理分析,结合中国近海多年逐日天气实况,研究了中国近海水温的短时（1d）、过程、旬、月、年际变率以及海温的长期趋势变化,并在此基础上详细讨论了影响中国近海各时间尺度水温变化的天气气候因素.     

The concentration and distribution of dimethyl sulfide in the marine atmospheric boundary layer near the equator

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秋茄和榕树叶片中正构烷烃分布和单体化合物δ13C值及其光合作用

对深圳福田、阳江、海南新竹红树林秋茄Kandelia candel及海口榕树Ficusm icrocarpa叶中类脂物进行萃取,分离出正构烷烃,通过气相色谱(GC)及色谱-质谱(GC MS)分析,测出了正构烷烃的碳数分布和相对含量.气相色谱-稳定同位素比质谱仪(GC-IRMS)测定了正构烷烃单体化合物的稳定同位素组成δ13C.秋茄叶和榕树叶正构烷烃的碳数分布均为C17C33,主要集中在C23-C31(＞90%).化合物含量最高为C27的有深圳福田秋茄、海南新竹秋茄、海口榕树,而阳江秋茄为C25.单体化合物的稳定同位素δ13C深圳福田秋茄为-31.42‰-34.48‰,阳江秋茄为-31.69‰-33.62‰,海南新竹秋茄为-30.30‰-33.04‰,海口榕树为-29.92‰33.56‰;平均值分别为-32.95‰、32.67‰、31.67‰、-31.74‰.结果表明,秋茄和陆地植物榕树的光合作用都是通过C3途径,是典型C3植物.     

The influence of island generated eddies on the carbon dioxide system, south of the Canary Islands

Measurements of surface partial pressure of CO₂ and water column alkalinity, pH_T, nutrients, oxygen, fluorescence and hydrography were carried out, south of the Canary Islands during September 1998. Cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies were alternatively observed from the northwestern area to the central area of the Canary Islands. Nutrient pumping and vertical uplifting of the deep chlorophyll maximum by cyclonic eddies were also ascertained by upward displacement of dissolved inorganic carbon. A model was applied to determine the net inorganic carbon balance in the cyclonic eddy. The fluxes were determined considering both the diffusive and convective contributions from the upward pumping and the corresponding horizontal transport of water outside the area. An increase in the total inorganic carbon concentration in the upper layers inside the eddy field of 133 mmol C m^− 2 d^− 1 was determined. The upward flux of inorganic carbon decreased the effect of the increased primary production on the carbon dioxide chemistry. The reduced fCO₂ inside the cyclonic eddy, 15 μatm lower than that observed in non-affected surface water, was explained by thermodynamic aspects, biological activity, eddy upward pumping and diffusion and air–sea water exchange effects.     

The POC / Th ratio of settling particles isolated using split flow-thin cell fractionation (SPLITT)

The common assumption that the ratio between particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate ²³⁴Th obtained from shallow sediment traps and filterable particles are representative of the ratio in the total particle settling flux should be treated with caution in view of well-known biases associated with tethered shallow sediment traps and the decoupling between size and settling velocity of many natural particle regimes. To make progress toward reliably constraining the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio on truly settling particles, we have tested here a settling collection technique designed to remove any hydrodynamic bias; split flow-thin cell fractionation (SPLITT). These first results from a North Sea fjord and an open Baltic Sea time-series station indicates that the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio on the more complete particle-settling spectrum, isolated with SPLITT, was higher than the POC / ²³⁴Th ratio obtained simultaneously from tethered shallow sediment traps in seven out of seven parallel deployments with an average factor of 210%. The POC / ²³⁴Th ratio from the SPLITT was either in the same range or higher than that obtained on filtered “bulk” particles. To explain this novel data we hypothesize that the slowest settling fraction is organic-matter rich and does not strongly complex ²³⁴Th (i.e., high POC / ²³⁴Th). We suggest that this ultra-slow sinking fraction is better collected by SPLITT than with tethered sediment traps because of minimized hydrodynamic bias.This was tested using the ratio of POC / Al as a tracer of detrital mineral-ballast influenced settling velocity. The higher POC / Al ratios in SPLITT samples relative to in traps is consistent with the hypothesis that SPLITT is better suited for collecting also the slow-settling component of sinking particles. This important slow-settling component appears to here consist primarily of non-APS/TEP components of plankton exudates or other less-strongly ²³⁴Th-complexing organic matter. Further applications of the SPLITT technique are likely to return increasingly new insights on the composition (including “truly settling” POC / ²³⁴Th) of the total spectrum of particles settling out of the upper ocean.     

Semidiurnal Dynamics of Salinity, Nutrients and Suspended Particulate Matter in an Estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, during a Spring Tide Cycle

The physical and chemical variability of the water column at subtidal station of an estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, was studied over a 24-hour period during a spring tide (tidal range ca. 2 m) in May 1995. Surface water and several depths through the water column were monitored every one and two hours, respectively. At each occasion, water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen concentration were measured and water samples were collected for the determination of nutrients and suspended particulate matter (SPM). Disruptive changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the water was produced by the tidal cycle and the mixing of water masses of different origin. These changes were highly significant both spatially and temporally, yet with varying effects on physical parameters, nutrients and the different components of SPM. Significant differences in nutrient concentrations were also observed when the data-set was divided into ebb and flood components, irrespective of the depth. Nitrate and nitrite rose to 1.8 times higher during the flood. Spatial differences of SPM were less marked than those of nutrients, only particulate organic carbon (POC) being significantly higher at the surface than in the intermediate and the lower layer. Both POC and pheopigment concentrations increased markedly through the water column, being highest shortly before the lower low tide. In contrast, suspended solid (SS) content increased sharply after the lower low tide (>40 mg l⁻¹) and this coincided with a marked decrease of the C/SS content (<20 mg g⁻¹). The lagtime between POC and SS tidal transport was caused by particle resuspension from the exposed intertidal sediments as the tidal level rose, and particle transport selection in relation to the tidal state. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

南海季风区地域性大气环流的结构

作者使用 NCEP/ NCAR再分析资料 ,在热带 30°S～ 30°N纬带用谐波分析方法分离出超长波之后 ,再采用环流诊断方法 ,发现南海季风区存在地域性环流系统。文中给出冬、夏季风期该系统的三维空间结构和相应的热源分布 ,讨论了该地域性环流系统对南海季风气候及其异常的作用 ,并探讨夏季风爆发北部先于南部的一种可能的气候原因。     

电磁波信号在对流层中路径弯曲改正的级数展开式

大气折射延迟是空间大地测量中的一个主要误差源。本文严格地给出了中性大气路径弯曲改正的原理性公式。通过对各种因素量级的分析,在亚毫米量级的精度上给出了一个以视天顶距正切和正割乘积为参数的级数展开模型。新模型在球对称大气模型下,级数展开模型的精度达到了毫米量级,理论上可以展开到任意阶次,且可允许观测高度角小到5°。