Carbon dioxide release from the North Pacific abyss during the last deglaciation

Eric D. Galbraith (), Samuel L. Jaccard, Thomas F. Pedersen, Daniel M. Sigman, Gerald H. Haug, Mea Cook, John R. Southon and Roger Francois
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Eric D. Galbraith: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
Samuel L. Jaccard: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
Thomas F. Pedersen: School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P6, Canada
Daniel M. Sigman: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Gerald H. Haug: Geological Institute, ETH Zürich, Zürich CH-8092, Switzerland
Mea Cook: University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
John R. Southon: University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA
Roger Francois: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada

Nature, 2007, vol. 449, issue 7164, 890-893

Abstract: Out of the abyss Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have varied significantly over the past two million years — they were relatively low during cold 'glacial' periods but high during the warm interglacial periods. The processes responsible for these variations remain obscure: it is thought that carbon may have been stored in the deep ocean during glacials, when deep water circulation was sluggish, and released during the transition into interglacial periods, as ventilation of the deep ocean increased, but direct evidence from this period is scarce. Galbraith et al. now use geochemical records from ocean sediment cores to shed light on the matter. They show that a poorly ventilated water mass that was rich in respired carbon dioxide occupied the North Pacific abyss during the Last Glacial Maximum, and that ventilation of the abyss increased during deglaciation, releasing the stored carbon dioxide.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06227

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