Ocean Biogeochemistry: The Role Of The Ocean Carbon Cycle In Global Change (global Change - The Igbp

Oceans account for 50% of the anthropogenic CO 2 released into the atmosphere. During the past 15 years an international programme, the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), has been studying the ocean carbon cycle to quantify and model the biological and physical processes whereby CO 2 is pumped from the ocean's surface to the depths of the ocean, where it can remain for hundreds of years. This project is one of the largest multi-disciplinary studies of the oceans ever carried out and this book synthesises the results. It covers all aspects of the topic ranging from air-sea exchange with CO 2 , the role of physical mixing, the uptake of CO 2 by marine algae, the fluxes of carbon and nitrogen through the marine food chain to the subsequent export of carbon to the depths of the ocean. Special emphasis is laid on predicting future climatic change. Front Matter....Pages I-XVIII Introduction....Pages 1-2 Biogeochemical Provinces: Towards a JGOFS Synthesis....Pages 3-17 Physical Transport of Nutrients and the Maintenance of Biological Production....Pages 19-51 Continental Margin Exchanges....Pages 53-97 Phytoplankton and Their Role in Primary, New, and Export Production....Pages 99-121 Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in the Global Ocean....Pages 123-143 Water Column Biogeochemistry below the Euphotic Zone....Pages 145-156 The Impact of Climate Change and Feedback Processes on the Ocean Carbon Cycle....Pages 157-193 Benthic Processes and the Burial of Carbon....Pages 195-216 Global Ocean Carbon Cycle Modeling....Pages 217-238 Temporal Studies of Biogeochemical Processes Determined from Ocean Time-Series Observations During the JGOFS Era....Pages 239-267 JGOFS: a Retrospective View....Pages 269-277 Back Matter....Pages 279-297