A 23,000-Year Record of Surface Water pH and PCO2 in the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean
Abstract
The oceans play a major role in defining atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, and although the geographical distribution of CO2 uptake and release in the modern ocean is understood, little is known about past distributions. Boron isotope studies of planktonic foraminifera from the western equatorial Pacific show that this area was a strong source of CO2 to the atmosphere between approximately 13,800 and 15,600 years ago. This observation is most compatible with increased frequency of La Niña conditions during this interval. Hence, increased upwelling in the eastern equatorial Pacific may have played an important role in the rise in atmospheric CO2 during the last deglaciation.
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This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the 6C program of the EC. We thank W. Berger for supplying us with samples from core ERDC-92; G. Bianchi for providing the oxygen and carbon isotope data; M. J. Cooper and R. N. Taylor for providing assistance with the boron analyses; and E. J. Rohling, J. G. Shepherd, P. A. Wilson, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
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Science
Volume 300 | Issue 5618
18 April 2003
18 April 2003
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American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Received: 25 November 2002
Accepted: 18 March 2003
Published in print: 18 April 2003
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