Ocean-circulation model of the carbon cycle

Abstract

A three-dimensional model of the natural carbon cycle in the oceans is described. The model is an extension of the inorganic ocean-circulation carbon cycle model of Maier-Reimer and Hasselmann (1987) to include the effect of the ocean biota. It is based on a dynamic, general circulation model of the world oceans. Chemical species important to the carbon cycle are advected by the current field of the general circulation model. Mixing occurs through numerical diffusivity (related to finite box size), a small explicit horizontal diffusivity, and a convective adjustment. An atmospheric box exchanges CO2 with the surface ocean. There is no land biota provided in the present version of the model. The effect of the ocean biota on ocean chemistry is represented in a simple way and model distributions of chemical species are compared with distributions observed during the GEOSECS and other expeditions.