Episodic release of CO₂ from the high-latitude North Atlantic Ocean during the last 135?kyr.

ABSTRACT: Antarctic ice cores document glacial-interglacial and millennial-scale variability in atmospheric pCO₂ over the past 800?kyr. The ocean, as the largest active carbon reservoir on this timescale, is thought to have played a dominant role in these pCO₂ fluctuations, but it remains unclear how and where in the ocean CO₂ was stored during glaciations and released during (de)glacial millennial-scale climate events. The evolution of surface ocean pCO₂ in key locations can therefore provide important clues for understanding the ocean's role in Pleistocene carbon cycling. Here we present a 135-kyr record of shallow subsurface pCO₂ and nutrient levels from the Norwegian Sea, an area of intense CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere today. Our results suggest that the Norwegian Sea probably acted as a CO₂ source towards the end of Heinrich stadials HS1, HS4 and HS11, and may have contributed to the increase in atmospheric pCO₂ at these times.

SUBMITTER: Ezat MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5322501 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature