Changes in atmospheric CO 2 : Influence of the marine biota at high latitude

✍ Scribed by Knox, Fanny; McElroy, Michael B.

• Book ID: 119720424
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 897 KB
• Volume: 89
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-0227
• DOI: 10.1029/jd089id03p04629

✦ Synopsis

Approximately half of the nitrogen and phosphorus entering deep waters of the contemporary ocean are transported from the surface in inorganic form as preformed nutrients. A simple model for ocean chemistry is presented and shown to account for the present level of atmospheric CO~2~. Fluctuations in preformed nutrients, modulated by changes in insolation and circulation at high latitudes, can result in significant variations in CO~2~. It is suggested that these changes may account for the apparent control on climate exercised by secular variations in the orbital parameters of the earth.