Interannual variability in the North Atlantic Ocean carbon sink

The North Atlantic is believed to represent the largest ocean sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in the Northern Hemisphere, yet little is known about its temporal variability. We report an 18-year time series of upper-ocean inorganic carbon observations from the northwestern subtropical North Atlantic near Bermuda that indicates substantial variability in this sink. We deduce that the carbon variability at this site is largely driven by variations in winter mixed-layer depths and by sea surface temperature anomalies. Because these variations tend to occur in a basinwide coordinated pattern associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation, it is plausible that the entire North Atlantic Ocean may vary in concert, resulting in a variability of the strength of the North Atlantic carbon sink of about +/-0.3 petagrams of carbon per year (1 petagram = 10(15) grams) or nearly +/-50%. This extrapolation is supported by basin-wide estimates from atmospheric carbon dioxide inversions.     

Oceanic Uptake of Fossil Fuel CO2: Carbon-13 Evidence

The delta(13)C value of the dissolved inorganic carbon in the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean has decreased by about 0.4 per mil between 1970 and 1990. This decrease has resulted from the uptake of atmospheric CO(2) derived from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation. The net amounts of CO(2) taken up by the oceans and released from the biosphere between 1970 and 1990 have been determined from the changes in three measured values: the concentration of atmospheric CO(2), the delta(13)C of atmospheric CO(2) and the delta(13)C value of dissolved inorganic carbon in the ocean. The calculated average net oceanic CO(2) uptake is 2.1 gigatons of carbon per year. This amount implies that the ocean is the dominant net sink for anthropogenically produced CO(2) and that there has been no significant net CO(2) released from the biosphere during the last 20 years.     

Indian-atlantic transfer of thermocline water at the agulhas retroflection

During November and December 1983, two anticyclonic eddies were observed west of the Agulhas Retroflection, apparently spawned at the retroflection. The western eddy, centered 300 kilometers southwest of Cape Town, has a winter cooled core encircled by warm Indian Ocean water. Between Cape Town and the "Cape Town Eddy" is a net geostrophic transport of Indian Ocean thermocline water (14 x 10(6) cubic meters per second) into the South Atlantic Ocean. This circulation configuration, similar to that observed by earlier researchers, suggests that Indian-Atlantic thermocline exchange is a common occurrence. Such a warmwater link between the Atlantic and Indian oceans would strongly influence global climate patterns. The Indian Ocean water is warmer than the adjacent South Atlantic water and thus represents a heat input of 2.3 x 10(13) to 47 x 10(13) watts into the Atlantic. The large uncertainty arises from the unknown partition between two possible routes for the return flow from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean: cooler South Atlantic thermocline water or much colder North Atlantic Deep Water. In either case, interocean mass and heat exchange of thermocline water at the Agulhas Retroflection is a distinct likelihood.     

2种多肉植物在室内环境中的光合及蒸腾特性研究

[目的]研究多肉植物长寿花(Kalanchoe blossfeldiana'Sensation')和花蔓草(Aptenia cordifolia)在室内环境中的光合特性和蒸腾特性,为其室内应用提供理论依据。[方法]以观赏性好、市场拥有率高的多肉植物长寿花和花蔓草为试验材料,通过对室内不同环境中光强、温度、湿度的持续研究,得到了室内光分布的曲线变化图,选取其中具有代表性的室内不同光照强度环境作为试验区域,用LI-6400便携式光合系统测定仪测定试验材料的CO2净吸收速率和蒸腾速率的昼夜变化,分别计算昼夜的固碳量和蒸腾释水量。[结果]长寿花和花蔓草在不同光环境中蒸腾速率的昼夜变化趋势和CO2净吸收速率的昼夜变化相似;从吸收CO2方面考虑,在南向房间中长寿花和花蔓草均宜放在1 052～1 360μmol/(m2.s)的光环境中,在北向房间中长寿花则宜放于北窗区域,而花蔓草易放于东向窗附近区域;从降低空气湿度方面考虑,在南向房间中长寿花和花蔓草宜放在1 052～1 360μmol/(m2.s)的光环境中,在北向房间中花蔓草和长寿花则宜放于北窗区域,且长寿花在北向房间的北窗区域的蒸腾量要比在南向窗区的蒸腾量还多。[结论]该研究可为将长寿花和花蔓草更好地应用于室内设计提供指导。     

Heat Transport by Currents Across 25{degrees}N Latitude in the Atlantic Ocean

The heat transported by currents across 25 degrees N in the Atlantic Ocean is estimated from oceanographic measurements to be 1.1 x 10(15) watts northward. This figure agrees, within estimated error, with the value obtained from charts of energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere but is smaller by a factor of 2 than the recent value derived from satellite radiation measurements.     

Volume and heat transports of the Florida current: april 1982 through august 1983

Absolute velocity and temperature profiles are used to estimate the volume transport through the Straits of Florida and, in combination with historical midbasin data, to estimate the total meridional heat flux through a section at 27 degrees N. The mean annual volume transport of the Florida Current from April 1982 through August 1983 is 30.5 (+/- 1)x 10(6) cubic meters per second. The net northward heat flux through the 27 degrees N section is 1.2 (+/- 0.1)x 10(15) watts. The volume transport is characterized by high values in the late spring and early summer and low values in the late fall and early winter. There is a similar cycle in total heat flux.     

Arctic lakes and streams as gas conduits to the atmosphere: implications for tundra carbon budgets

Arctic tundra has large amounts of stored carbon and is thought to be a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) (0.1 to 0.3 petagram of carbon per year) (1 petagram = 10(15) grams). But this estimate of carbon balance is only for terrestrial ecosystems. Measurements of the partial pressure of CO(2) in 29 aquatic ecosystems across arctic Alaska showed that in most cases (27 of 29) CO(2) was released to the atmosphere. This CO(2) probably originates in terrestrial environments; erosion of particulate carbon plus ground-water transport of dissolved carbon from tundra contribute to the CO(2) flux from surface waters to the atmosphere. If this mechanism is typical of that of other tundra areas, then current estimates of the arctic terrestrial sink for atmospheric CO(2) may be 20 percent too high.     

Saturation of the southern ocean CO2 sink due to recent climate change

Based on observed atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and an inverse method, we estimate that the Southern Ocean sink of CO2 has weakened between 1981 and 2004 by 0.08 petagrams of carbon per year per decade relative to the trend expected from the large increase in atmospheric CO2. We attribute this weakening to the observed increase in Southern Ocean winds resulting from human activities, which is projected to continue in the future. Consequences include a reduction of the efficiency of the Southern Ocean sink of CO2 in the short term (about 25 years) and possibly a higher level of stabilization of atmospheric CO2 on a multicentury time scale.     

Decadal variation of the surface water PCO2 in the western and central equatorial Pacific

The equatorial Pacific Ocean is one of the most important yet highly variable oceanic source areas for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Here, we used the partial pressure of CO2 (PCO2), measured in surface waters from 1979 through early 2001, to examine the effect on the equatorial Pacific CO2 chemistry of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation phase shift, which occurred around 1988 to 1992. During the decade before the shift, the surface water PCO2 (corrected for temperature changes and atmospheric CO2 uptake) in the central and western equatorial Pacific decreased at a mean rate of about -20 microatm per decade, whereas after the shift, it increased at about +15 microatm per decade. These changes altered the CO2 sink and source flux of the equatorial Pacific significantly.     

Trajectory shifts in the Arctic and subarctic freshwater cycle

Manifold changes in the freshwater cycle of high-latitude lands and oceans have been reported in the past few years. A synthesis of these changes in freshwater sources and in ocean freshwater storage illustrates the complementary and synoptic temporal pattern and magnitude of these changes over the past 50 years. Increasing river discharge anomalies and excess net precipitation on the ocean contributed approximately 20,000 cubic kilometers of fresh water to the Arctic and high-latitude North Atlantic oceans from lows in the 1960s to highs in the 1990s. Sea ice attrition provided another approximately 15,000 cubic kilometers, and glacial melt added approximately 2000 cubic kilometers. The sum of anomalous inputs from these freshwater sources matched the amount and rate at which fresh water accumulated in the North Atlantic during much of the period from 1965 through 1995. The changes in freshwater inputs and ocean storage occurred in conjunction with the amplifying North Atlantic Oscillation and rising air temperatures. Fresh water may now be accumulating in the Arctic Ocean and will likely be exported southward if and when the North Atlantic Oscillation enters into a new high phase.     

Atmospheric CO2 and climate on millennial time scales during the last glacial period

Reconstructions of ancient atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) variations help us better understand how the global carbon cycle and climate are linked. We compared CO2 variations on millennial time scales between 20,000 and 90,000 years ago with an Antarctic temperature proxy and records of abrupt climate change in the Northern Hemisphere. CO2 concentration and Antarctic temperature were positively correlated over millennial-scale climate cycles, implying a strong connection to Southern Ocean processes. Evidence from marine sediment proxies indicates that CO2 concentration rose most rapidly when North Atlantic Deep Water shoaled and stratification in the Southern Ocean was reduced. These increases in CO2 concentration occurred during stadial (cold) periods in the Northern Hemisphere, several thousand years before abrupt warming events in Greenland.     

扁穗牛鞭草光合特性研究

利用Li-6400型光合作用测定系统测定了扁穗牛鞭草的光合特性。试验结果显示:扁穗牛鞭草叶片的光合日进程呈"单峰型",光饱和点较高,在2200μmol/(m2.s)以上仍然未达到饱和,光补偿点为4.53μmol/(m2.s),表观量子效率为0.038,CO2饱和点为1200μmol/mol,补偿点8.29μmol/mol,羧化效率(CE)为0.273。通过对净光合速率和其他相关因素的日变化分析得知:光量子通量密度是影响扁穗牛鞭草净光合速率的主要环境因子。     

Carbon dioxide supersaturation in the surface waters of lakes

Data on the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) in the surface waters from a large number of lakes (1835) with a worldwide distribution show that only a small proportion of the 4665 samples analyzed (less than 10 percent) were within +/-20 percent of equilibrium with the atmosphere and that most samples (87 percent) were supersaturated. The mean partial pressure of CO(2) averaged 1036 microatmospheres, about three times the value in the overlying atmosphere, indicating that lakes are sources rather than sinks of atmospheric CO(2). On a global scale, the potential efflux of CO(2) from lakes (about 0.14 x 10(15) grams of carbon per year) is about half as large as riverine transport of organic plus inorganic carbon to the ocean. Lakes are a small but potentially important conduit for carbon from terrestrial sources to the atmospheric sink.     

High-selectivity, high-flux silica membranes for gas separation

Process improvements in silica membrane fabrication, especially the use of clean-room techniques, resulted in silica membranes without detectable mesoscopic defects, resulting in significantly improved transport properties. Supported membranes calcined at 400 degreesC were 30 nanometers in thickness, showed a H2 permeance at 200 degreesC of 2 x 10(-6) moles per square meter per second per Pascal (mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1), and had a CH4 permeance more than 500 times smaller. Molecules larger than CH4 were completely blocked. Silica membranes calcined at 600 degreesC showed no detectable CH4 flux, with a H2 permeance of 5 x 10(-7) (mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1) at 200 degreesC. These results signify an important step toward the industrial application of these membranes such as purification of H2 and natural gas as well as the selective removal of CO2.     

玉带草光合特性的研究

采用CIRAS-2便携式光合仪对玉带草(Phalaris arundinacea var.picta)叶片细胞间CO_2浓度(Ci)、气孔导度(Gs)、净光合速率(Pn)和蒸腾速率(Tr)等有关参数进行测定,并进行光合特性的分析研究。结果表明,玉带草的净光合速率日变化为单峰曲线,在上午10:00达到最大值,此后呈下降趋势;玉带草的净光合速率随着光照度的增大而增大,在光照度1 400μmol/(m~2·s)时达到最大值;当CO_2浓度在0~1 000μmol/mol这一范围内时,玉带草净光合速率呈急速上升趋势。可得羧化效率为2.410 9;CO_2补偿点为3.08μmol/mol,CO_2饱和点为1 000μmol/mol。     

长白山阔叶红松林碳收支特征

植被-大气间CO2交换研究对准确评价陆地生态系统碳收支有重要意义．该研究采用开路式涡动相关系统对长白山阔叶红松林的C O2交换特征进行了整年连续监测．结果表明,该森林生态系统的碳交换季节变化明显,2003年森林净生态系统碳交换量(NEE)变化范围在-6.37～2.13 g/(m2·d)之间,5—9月均表现为碳汇,其余月份为碳源,其中净碳吸收量与释放量最大的月份分别为6和10月;全年森林净吸收的碳量为-191.3 g/m2,整体表现为一定强度的碳汇．影响NEE的环境因子主要是光合有效辐射(PAR)和土壤温度等,白天NEE对PAR 的响应符合直角双曲线方程,夜间的NEE与5 cm深土壤温度有较好的指数关系．生态系统呼吸释放对温度响应的敏感性(Ｑ10)为3.17．      

钾对刺葡萄光合作用的影响

以刺葡萄为材料,设不同施钾量(0、135、270、540 g/株)研究其光合作用。结果表明:当施钾量为270 g/株时,各时期刺葡萄叶片的净光合速率均较高,着色期时达最大,为8.91μmol/(m~2·s);当施钾量为540 g/株时,各时期刺葡萄叶片的气孔导度均较高;当施钾量为270 g/株时,刺葡萄叶片的蒸腾速率在膨大期较高,为5.33mmol/(m~2·s);当施钾量为270 g/株时,除开花期之外,各时期刺葡萄叶片的胞间CO2浓度均处于较低水平;钾与净光合速率、蒸腾速率、气孔导度呈极显著正相关关系;在不同时期刺葡萄叶片的光合日变化均呈双峰曲线,在10:00和16:00时出现峰值,10:00时,膨大期、着色期和落叶期均以施钾量540 g/株时的净光合速率最大,分别为6.05、7.63和4.75μmol/(m~2·s),施钾量为270 g/株时的净光合速率次之,而开花期和成熟期分别以施钾量135、270 g/株时的净光合速率最大,分别为5.31和5.61μmol/(m~2·s);16:00时,除开花期以施钾量540 g/株时的净光合速率最大之外,其他时期均以施钾量270 g/株时净光合速率达最大值,分别为4.26、3.61、2.87、2.30μmol/(m~2·s)。综合本研究结果,施钾量为270 g/株时较有利于刺葡萄光合作用。     

Polychlorobiphenyls in North Atlantic ocean water

Concentrations of polychlorobiphenyls (PCB's) have been measured at the surface and at various depths in the water of the North Atlantic Ocean between 26 degrees N and 63 degrees N. The concentrations average about 20 parts per trillion and amount to an estimated 2 x 10(4) metric tons of PCB's in the upper 200 meters of water. The average concentrations of PCB's in the surface water of the Sargasso Sea are lower than those in the northern North Atlantic.     

Reorganization of North Atlantic marine copepod biodiversity and climate

We provide evidence of large-scale changes in the biogeography of calanoid copepod crustaceans in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and European shelf seas. We demonstrate that strong biogeographical shifts in all copepod assemblages have occurred with a northward extension of more than 10 degrees latitude of warm-water species associated with a decrease in the number of colder-water species. These biogeographical shifts are in agreement with recent changes in the spatial distribution and phenology detected for many taxonomic groups in terrestrial European ecosystems and are related to both the increasing trend in Northern Hemisphere temperature and the North Atlantic Oscillation.     

Comment on "Saturation of the southern ocean CO2 sink due to recent climate change"

Unlike Le Quéré et al. (Reports, 22 June 2007, p. 1735), we do not find a saturating Southern Ocean carbon sink due to recent climate change. In our ocean model, observed wind forcing causes reduced carbon uptake, but heat and freshwater flux forcing cause increased uptake. Our inversions of atmospheric carbon dioxide show that the Southern Ocean sink trend is dependent on network choice.