Modeling the contribution of dissolved organic carbon to carbon sequestration during the last glacial maximum

Abstract

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a carbon reservoir that is as large as the atmospheric CO2 pool, and its contribution to the global carbon cycle is gaining attention. As DOC is a dissolved tracer, its distribution can serve to trace the mixing of water masses and the pathways of ocean circulation. Published proxy and model reconstructions have revealed that, during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the pattern of deep ocean circulation differed from that of the modern ocean, whereby additional carbon is assumed to have been sequestered in stratified LGM deep water. The aim of this study is to explore the distribution of DOC and its production/removal rate during the LGM using the Grid ENabled Integrated Earth system model (GENIE). Modeled results reveal that increased salinity of bottom waters in the Southern Ocean is associated with stronger stratification and oxygen depletion. The stratified LGM deep ocean traps more nutrients, resulting in a decrease in the DOC reservoir size that, in turn, causes a negative feedback for carbon sequestration. This finding requires an increase in DOC lifetime to compensate for the negative feedback. The upper limit of DOC lifetime is assumed to be 20,000 years. Modeled results derive an increase (decrease) in DOC reservoir by 100 Pg C leading to an atmospheric CO2 decrease (increase) of 9.1 ppm and a dissolved inorganic carbon δ13C increase (decrease) of 0.06‰. The DOC removal rate is estimated to be 39.5 Tg C year–1 in the deep sea during the LGM. The contribution of DOC to the LGM carbon cycle elucidates potential carbon sink-increasing strategies.