DOCSLIB.ORG

An Artificial Upwelling Driven by Salinity Differences in the Ocean

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
An Artificial Upwelling Driven by Salinity Differences in the Ocean SER l/TP-252-2149 UC Categories: 62e, 64 DE84000086 An Artificial Upwelling Driven by Salinity Differences in the Ocean D.H.Johnson J. Decicco December 1983 To be presented at the .ASME 7th Annual Energy Sources Technology Conference and Exhibition New Orleans, Louisiana 12-16 February 1984 Prepared under Task No. 1390.21 FTP No. 415 Solar Energy Research Institute A Division of Midwest Research Institute 1617 Cole Boulevard Golden, Colorado 80401 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC02-83CH10093 Printed in the United States of America Available from: National Technical Information Service U.S. Department of Commerce 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Price: Microfiche A01 Printed Copy A02 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the United States Department of Energy, nor any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. SERI/TP-252-2149 AN AlrrIFICIAL Ul'WELLING DRIVEN BY SALINITY DIFFERENCES IN THE OCEAN D. H. Johnson J. Decicco Solar Energy Research Institute 1617 Cole Boulevard Golden, Colorado 80401 ABSTRACT the ocean in such a manner that its bottom was exposed to cold, relatively fresh water and its top to warm saline water, a continuous flow up the pipe could be A concept for an artificial upwelling driven by salin­ maintained after priming the fountain. His explana­ ity differences in the ocean to supply nutrients to a tion was that the ascending water in a pipe suitable mariculture farm is described and analyzed. A long for heat exchange would exchange heat but not salinity shell-and-tube counterflow heat exchanger built of in­ with the ambient ocean and would be accelerated due to expensive plastic and concrete is suspended vertically its deficiency in salt (and thus density) relative to in ::he ocean. Cold, nutrient rich, but relatively fluid at the same level outside the pipe. Stammel fresh water from deep in the ocean flows up the shell also attempted an experiment in the ocean to demon­ side of the heat exchanger, and warm but relatively strate this effect, but the results were inconclusive. saline water from the surface flows down the tu be The small boat he used to suspend his pipe from was side. The two flows exchange heat across the thin strongly affected by waves, so he could not separate plastic walls of the tubes, maintaining a constant the effects of wave pumping from a flow caused by temperature difference along the heat exchanger. The salinity differences. plastic tubes are protected by the concrete outer shell of the heat exchanger. The flow is maintained Since Stommel's 1956 article, most of the effort by the difference in density between the deep and sur­ related to this phenomenon has been to understand face water due to their difference in salinity. This naturally occurring "salt fingers'" in the ocean as phenomenon was first recognized by the oceanographer described in Stern (2). This work has recently been Stommel, who termed it "The Perpetual Salt Fountain." summarized by Huppert and Turner (3). Our search of The heat transfer and flow rate as a function of tube the literature since Stommel's original paper in 1956 number and diameter is analyzed and the size of the found only one discussion of the engineering aspects heat exchanger optimized for cost is determined fer a of using the salinity difference in the ocean to drive given flow of nutrients for various locations. Rea­ an artificial upwelling (4). Groves estimated flow sonable sizes (outer diameter on the order of 5 m) are rates and diameters for a single pipe exchanging heat obtained. The incremental capital cost of the with the ambient ocean as originally described by salinity-driven artificial upwelling is compared to Stommel. It was found that a 600-m- long, 20-cm­ the incremental capital cost and present value of the diameter copper pipe installed at an angle so its operating cost of an artificial upwell fueled by bottom is 300 m below the surface might produce a flow liquid hydrocarbons. The salinity-driven upwelling is rate of 5.5 L/s. This upwelling was assumed to supply generally cheaper. phosphorus for fish. It was estimated that it would produce 54 kg/yr of edible nutrients for fish. The 1. 0 BACKGROUND same amount of phosphorus could be added by dumping in 290 kg/yr of Peruvian guano, whose phosphorus content One of the major factors inhibiting implementation of is 4.6%. Thus, Groves (4) concluded that the artifi­ mariculture farms in the ocean is a cost-effective way cial upwelling is not likely to be worth the effort. of fertilizing the mariculture. The deep ocean con­ However, there are several reasons to reexamine the tains inorganic material that could fertilize the practicability of an artificial upwelling driven by mariculture if brought to the surface. Present !'leth­ salinity differences. ods of doing this are too expensive to make maricul­ ture farms commercially feasible. The deep water in Commercially viable mariculture is likely to be on a the ocean is usually less saline and colder than the large scale (much greater than 10 acres). If an surface water. In 1956, the oceanographer Stommel (1) effective upwelling system can be constructed that noted that if a long vertical pipe were lowered into does not run on fuel shipped to the site, then at some 1 SERI/TP-252-2149 size the upwelling may become cheaper than shipping maintained by Sto1lllllel 's salt fountain effect. Warm fertilizer. There are also other mariculture products salty surface water is drawn from just above the besides fish that may be commercially viahle. For bottom of the surface mixed layer (typically at a example, kelp for use as a feedstock to produce syn­ depth of SO m) and flows down the tubes inside the thetic natural gas has been proposed as a mariculture shell. These tubes are supported at stations along product. Nitrogen is not present in sufficient quan­ the length of the shell so they do not bear a signifi­ tities in surface water to provide a commercially cant load. They are constructed of very thin (a few viable kelp yield. A recent study (5) concluded that tenths of milHmeters thick) extruded plastic. Cold, commercial nitrogen fertilizer would be too expensive relatively fresh, nutrient rich water from 300 m to to use as a nitrogen source even when considering only 500 m below the surface is qrawn into the shell side the energy required to produce it. Deep ocean water of the heat exchanger and flows towards the surface. is typically rich.in nitrogen. The commercial viabil­ The deep water and surface water flow counter to each ity of a kelp farm depends on finding an economical other and ma.lntain an approximately equal temperature way of getting this deep water to the surface. The difference throughout the length of the heat concept presented in this paper holds potential for exchanger. This is the most efficient arrangement for building such a cost-effective artificial upwelling. heat transfer and is the major difference between our concept and Stommels' original idea. 2.0 THE SERI ARTIFICIAL UPWELLING CONCEPT When the deep water reaches the top of the heat exchanger it has been warmed to a temperature slightly The SERI concept is essentially a large shell-and-tube less than the temperature of the surface water but is counterflow heat exchanger (Fig. 1). Structural sup­ more bouyant than the ambient surface water because of port is provided by the outer shell of diameter D . s lower salinity. The warmed, nutrient-rich deep water This shell would be constructed in a manner similar to is directed towards the surf ace by the upper manifold. an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) cold water It rises and floats on the surface due to its buoy­ pipe (6). .It might be made of concrete, plastic, or ancy. The streams of water entering and exiting the some other inexpensive material. No significant heat top of the heat exchanger are kept separate by the transfer occurs across the shell. stratification set up by their density differences. When the surface water reaches the bottom of the heat exchanger, it has been cooled to a temperature Nutrient-Rich, � slightly higher than the deep water but is heavier \\l!� · - - --- - · - � �ar ·- -- ·· me than the ambient deep water because of higher salin­ :i:::!::!l!l:� ������=Zli'i:l �=::fJ 5 ity. It is discharged directly downward through the lower manifold and sinks below the depth from which +-Salty deep water is being withdrawn until it reaches a depth Surface where the surrounding water has the same density. The Water two streams of water are kept separate by the natural stratification that exists in the ocean at these depths. Once a flow has been established through the heat ex­ changer it will be maintained by the buoyancy differ­ ence between the warmed deep water and the cooled sur­ face water due to their difference in salinity. However, since this natural pump must first be primed, mechanical pumps will be required to initiate the flow. I 300-SOOm L Any artificial upwelling operating far from land will have to provide a method of keeping the n�trient-rich deep water on the surface once it is brought there from the depths.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Exchange of Water Between Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska Recommended
    The exchange of water between Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska Item Type Thesis Authors Schmidt, George Michael Download date 27/09/2021 18:58:15 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/5284 THE EXCHANGE OF WATER BETWEEN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND THE GULF OF ALASKA RECOMMENDED: THE EXCHANGE OF WATER BETWEEN PRIMCE WILLIAM SOUND AND THE GULF OF ALASKA A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE by George Michael Schmidt III, B.E.S. Fairbanks, Alaska May 197 7 ABSTRACT Prince William Sound is a complex fjord-type estuarine system bordering the northern Gulf of Alaska. This study is an analysis of exchange between Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. Warm, high salinity deep water appears outside the Sound during summer and early autumn. Exchange between this ocean water and fjord water is a combination of deep and intermediate advective intrusions plus deep diffusive mixing. Intermediate exchange appears to be an annual phen­ omenon occurring throughout the summer. During this season, medium scale parcels of ocean water centered on temperature and NO maxima appear in the intermediate depth fjord water. Deep advective exchange also occurs as a regular annual event through the late summer and early autumn. Deep diffusive exchange probably occurs throughout the year, being more evident during the winter in the absence of advective intrusions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation is extended to Dr. T. C. Royer, Dr. J. M. Colonell, Dr. R. T. Cooney, Dr. R.
    [Show full text]
  • Hydrothermal Vents. Teacher's Notes
    Hydrothermal Vents Hydrothermal Vents. Teacher’s notes. A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. They are usually volcanically active. Seawater penetrates into fissures of the volcanic bed and interacts with the hot, newly formed rock in the volcanic crust. This heated seawater (350-450°) dissolves large amounts of minerals. The resulting acidic solution, containing metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu) and large amounts of reduced sulfur and compounds such as sulfides and H2S, percolates up through the sea floor where it mixes with the cold surrounding ocean water (2-4°) forming mineral deposits and different types of vents. In the resulting temperature gradient, these minerals provide a source of energy and nutrients to chemoautotrophic organisms that are, thus, able to live in these extreme conditions. This is an extreme environment with high pressure, steep temperature gradients, and high concentrations of toxic elements such as sulfides and heavy metals. Black and white smokers Some hydrothermal vents form a chimney like structure that can be as 60m tall. They are formed when the minerals that are dissolved in the fluid precipitates out when the super-heated water comes into contact with the freezing seawater. The minerals become particles with high sulphur content that form the stack. Black smokers are very acidic typically with a ph. of 2 (around that of vinegar). A black smoker is a type of vent found at depths typically below 3000m that emit a cloud or black material high in sulphates. White smokers are formed in a similar way but they emit lighter-hued minerals, for example barium, calcium and silicon.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Co2 Chemistry in Sea Water
    INTRODUCTION TO CO2 CHEMISTRY IN SEA WATER Andrew G. Dickson Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii Monthly Average Carbon Dioxide Concentration Data from Scripps CO Program Last updated August 2016 2 ? 410 400 390 380 370 2008; ~385 ppm 360 350 Concentration (ppm) 2 340 CO 330 1974; ~330 ppm 320 310 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Year EFFECT OF ADDING CO2 TO SEA WATER 2− − CO2 + CO3 +H2O ! 2HCO3 O C O CO2 1. Dissolves in the ocean increase in decreases increases dissolved CO2 carbonate bicarbonate − HCO3 H O O also hydrogen ion concentration increases C H H 2. Reacts with water O O + H2O to form bicarbonate ion i.e., pH = –lg [H ] decreases H+ and hydrogen ion − HCO3 and saturation state of calcium carbonate decreases H+ 2− O O CO + 2− 3 3. Nearly all of that hydrogen [Ca ][CO ] C C H saturation Ω = 3 O O ion reacts with carbonate O O state K ion to form more bicarbonate sp (a measure of how “easy” it is to form a shell) M u l t i p l e o b s e r v e d indicators of a changing global carbon cycle: (a) atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) from Mauna Loa (19°32´N, 155°34´W – red) and South Pole (89°59´S, 24°48´W – black) since 1958; (b) partial pressure of dissolved CO2 at the ocean surface (blue curves) and in situ pH (green curves), a measure of the acidity of ocean water.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global Marine Phosphorus Cycle: Sensitivity to Oceanic Circulation
    Biogeosciences, 4, 155–171, 2007 www.biogeosciences.net/4/155/2007/ Biogeosciences © Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. The global marine phosphorus cycle: sensitivity to oceanic circulation C. P. Slomp and P. Van Cappellen Department of Earth Sciences – Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80021, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands Received: 4 September 2006 – Published in Biogeosciences Discuss.: 5 October 2006 Revised: 8 January 2007 – Accepted: 20 February 2007 – Published: 22 February 2007 Abstract. A new mass balance model for the coupled ma- stand long-term variations in marine biological activity, at- rine cycles of phosphorus (P) and carbon (C) is used to ex- mospheric composition and climate (Holland, 1984; Van amine the relationships between oceanic circulation, primary Cappellen and Ingall, 1996; Petsch and Berner, 1998; Bjer- productivity, and sedimentary burial of reactive P and partic- rum and Canfield, 2002). Important forcings include the sup- ulate organic C (POC), on geological time scales. The model ply of reactive P from the continents, oceanic circulation and explicitly represents the exchanges of water and particulate sea level fluctuations (Follmi,¨ 1996; Compton et al., 2000; matter between the continental shelves and the open ocean, Handoh and Lenton, 2003; Wallmann, 2003; Bjerrum et al., and it accounts for the redox-dependent burial of POC and 2006). the various forms of reactive P (iron(III)-bound P, particu- Upward transport of nutrient-rich water sustains biologi- late organic P (POP), authigenic calcium phosphate, and fish cal activity in marine surface waters. Vertical mixing, how- debris). Steady state and transient simulations indicate that ever, also controls the ventilation of the deeper ocean waters, a slowing down of global ocean circulation decreases pri- which in turn has a major effect on the sedimentary burial mary production in the open ocean, but increases that in the of phosphorus.
    [Show full text]
  • EXPLORING DEEP SEA HYDROTHERMAL VENTS on EARTH and OCEAN WORLDS. P. Sobron1,2, L. M. Barge3, the Invader Team. 1Impossible Sensing, St
    52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) 2505.pdf EXPLORING DEEP SEA HYDROTHERMAL VENTS ON EARTH AND OCEAN WORLDS. P. Sobron1,2, L. M. Barge3, the InVADER Team. 1Impossible Sensing, St. Louis, MO ([email protected]) 2SETI Institute, Mtn. View, CA, , 3Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA The Mission: InVADER (In-situ Vent Analysis precipitates showing exposed minerals and organic Divebot for Exobiology Research, Figure 4.1, content. The UNOLS ROV will use our coring tool and https://invader-mission.org/) is NASA’s most advanced its own manipulator and cameras to take ground truth subsea sensing payload, a tightly integrated imaging and samples as part of the InVADER deplotment. laser Raman spectroscopy/laser-induced breakdown In contrast to existing methods, InVADER allows spectroscopy/laser induced native fluorescence in-situ, autonomous, non-destructive measurements of instrument capable of in-situ, rapid, long-term these vent characteristics. InVADER will fill these gaps, underwater analyses of vent fluid and precipitates. and advance readiness in vent exploration on Earth and Such analyses are critical for finding and studying Ocean Worlds by simplifying operational strategies for life and life’s precursors at vent systems on Ocean identifying and characterizing seafloor environments. Worlds. To demonstrate the scientific potential and We will use statistical analysis tools for the fusion of functionality of the instrument, in July 2021 our team multi-sensor datasets, and develop real-time science will deploy InVADER on the Ocean Observatories data evaluation and payload control routines to Initiative’s (OOI) Regional Cabled Array (RCA), a establish, and then validate, adaptive science operations power/data distribution network off the Oregon coast, at strategies that maximize science return in a mission-like the underwater hydrothermal systems of Axial scenario.
    [Show full text]
  • Significant Dissipation of Tidal Energy in the Deep Ocean Inferred from Satellite Altimeter Data
    letters to nature 3. Rein, M. Phenomena of liquid drop impact on solid and liquid surfaces. Fluid Dynamics Res. 12, 61± water is created at high latitudes12. It has thus been suggested that 93 (1993). much of the mixing required to maintain the abyssal strati®cation, 4. Fukai, J. et al. Wetting effects on the spreading of a liquid droplet colliding with a ¯at surface: experiment and modeling. Phys. Fluids 7, 236±247 (1995). and hence the large-scale meridional overturning, occurs at 5. Bennett, T. & Poulikakos, D. Splat±quench solidi®cation: estimating the maximum spreading of a localized `hotspots' near areas of rough topography4,16,17. Numerical droplet impacting a solid surface. J. Mater. Sci. 28, 963±970 (1993). modelling studies further suggest that the ocean circulation is 6. Scheller, B. L. & Bous®eld, D. W. Newtonian drop impact with a solid surface. Am. Inst. Chem. Eng. J. 18 41, 1357±1367 (1995). sensitive to the spatial distribution of vertical mixing . Thus, 7. Mao, T., Kuhn, D. & Tran, H. Spread and rebound of liquid droplets upon impact on ¯at surfaces. Am. clarifying the physical mechanisms responsible for this mixing is Inst. Chem. Eng. J. 43, 2169±2179, (1997). important, both for numerical ocean modelling and for general 8. de Gennes, P. G. Wetting: statics and dynamics. Rev. Mod. Phys. 57, 827±863 (1985). understanding of how the ocean works. One signi®cant energy 9. Hayes, R. A. & Ralston, J. Forced liquid movement on low energy surfaces. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 159, 429±438 (1993). source for mixing may be barotropic tidal currents.
    [Show full text]
  • DEEP SEA LEBANON RESULTS of the 2016 EXPEDITION EXPLORING SUBMARINE CANYONS Towards Deep-Sea Conservation in Lebanon Project
    DEEP SEA LEBANON RESULTS OF THE 2016 EXPEDITION EXPLORING SUBMARINE CANYONS Towards Deep-Sea Conservation in Lebanon Project March 2018 DEEP SEA LEBANON RESULTS OF THE 2016 EXPEDITION EXPLORING SUBMARINE CANYONS Towards Deep-Sea Conservation in Lebanon Project Citation: Aguilar, R., García, S., Perry, A.L., Alvarez, H., Blanco, J., Bitar, G. 2018. 2016 Deep-sea Lebanon Expedition: Exploring Submarine Canyons. Oceana, Madrid. 94 p. DOI: 10.31230/osf.io/34cb9 Based on an official request from Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment back in 2013, Oceana has planned and carried out an expedition to survey Lebanese deep-sea canyons and escarpments. Cover: Cerianthus membranaceus © OCEANA All photos are © OCEANA Index 06 Introduction 11 Methods 16 Results 44 Areas 12 Rov surveys 16 Habitat types 44 Tarablus/Batroun 14 Infaunal surveys 16 Coralligenous habitat 44 Jounieh 14 Oceanographic and rhodolith/maërl 45 St. George beds measurements 46 Beirut 19 Sandy bottoms 15 Data analyses 46 Sayniq 15 Collaborations 20 Sandy-muddy bottoms 20 Rocky bottoms 22 Canyon heads 22 Bathyal muds 24 Species 27 Fishes 29 Crustaceans 30 Echinoderms 31 Cnidarians 36 Sponges 38 Molluscs 40 Bryozoans 40 Brachiopods 42 Tunicates 42 Annelids 42 Foraminifera 42 Algae | Deep sea Lebanon OCEANA 47 Human 50 Discussion and 68 Annex 1 85 Annex 2 impacts conclusions 68 Table A1. List of 85 Methodology for 47 Marine litter 51 Main expedition species identified assesing relative 49 Fisheries findings 84 Table A2. List conservation interest of 49 Other observations 52 Key community of threatened types and their species identified survey areas ecological importanc 84 Figure A1.
    [Show full text]
  • Microbial Community and Geochemical Analyses of Trans-Trench Sediments for Understanding the Roles of Hadal Environments
    The ISME Journal (2020) 14:740–756 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0564-z ARTICLE Microbial community and geochemical analyses of trans-trench sediments for understanding the roles of hadal environments 1 2 3,4,9 2 2,10 2 Satoshi Hiraoka ● Miho Hirai ● Yohei Matsui ● Akiko Makabe ● Hiroaki Minegishi ● Miwako Tsuda ● 3 5 5,6 7 8 2 Juliarni ● Eugenio Rastelli ● Roberto Danovaro ● Cinzia Corinaldesi ● Tomo Kitahashi ● Eiji Tasumi ● 2 2 2 1 Manabu Nishizawa ● Ken Takai ● Hidetaka Nomaki ● Takuro Nunoura Received: 9 August 2019 / Revised: 20 November 2019 / Accepted: 28 November 2019 / Published online: 11 December 2019 © The Author(s) 2019. This article is published with open access Abstract Hadal trench bottom (>6000 m below sea level) sediments harbor higher microbial cell abundance compared with adjacent abyssal plain sediments. This is supported by the accumulation of sedimentary organic matter (OM), facilitated by trench topography. However, the distribution of benthic microbes in different trench systems has not been well explored yet. Here, we carried out small subunit ribosomal RNA gene tag sequencing for 92 sediment subsamples of seven abyssal and seven hadal sediment cores collected from three trench regions in the northwest Pacific Ocean: the Japan, Izu-Ogasawara, and fi 1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: Mariana Trenches. Tag-sequencing analyses showed speci c distribution patterns of several phyla associated with oxygen and nitrate. The community structure was distinct between abyssal and hadal sediments, following geographic locations and factors represented by sediment depth. Co-occurrence network revealed six potential prokaryotic consortia that covaried across regions. Our results further support that the OM cycle is driven by hadal currents and/or rapid burial shapes microbial community structures at trench bottom sites, in addition to vertical deposition from the surface ocean.
    [Show full text]
  • Causes of Sea Level Rise
    FACT SHEET Causes of Sea OUR COASTAL COMMUNITIES AT RISK Level Rise What the Science Tells Us HIGHLIGHTS From the rocky shoreline of Maine to the busy trading port of New Orleans, from Roughly a third of the nation’s population historic Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to the golden sands of Miami Beach, lives in coastal counties. Several million our coasts are an integral part of American life. Where the sea meets land sit some of our most densely populated cities, most popular tourist destinations, bountiful of those live at elevations that could be fisheries, unique natural landscapes, strategic military bases, financial centers, and flooded by rising seas this century, scientific beaches and boardwalks where memories are created. Yet many of these iconic projections show. These cities and towns— places face a growing risk from sea level rise. home to tourist destinations, fisheries, Global sea level is rising—and at an accelerating rate—largely in response to natural landscapes, military bases, financial global warming. The global average rise has been about eight inches since the centers, and beaches and boardwalks— Industrial Revolution. However, many U.S. cities have seen much higher increases in sea level (NOAA 2012a; NOAA 2012b). Portions of the East and Gulf coasts face a growing risk from sea level rise. have faced some of the world’s fastest rates of sea level rise (NOAA 2012b). These trends have contributed to loss of life, billions of dollars in damage to coastal The choices we make today are critical property and infrastructure, massive taxpayer funding for recovery and rebuild- to protecting coastal communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean-Climate.Org
    ocean-climate.org THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN OCEAN AND CLIMATE 8 fact sheets WITH THE HELP OF: Authors: Corinne Bussi-Copin, Xavier Capet, Bertrand Delorme, Didier Gascuel, Clara Grillet, Michel Hignette, Hélène Lecornu, Nadine Le Bris and Fabrice Messal Coordination: Nicole Aussedat, Xavier Bougeard, Corinne Bussi-Copin, Louise Ras and Julien Voyé Infographics: Xavier Bougeard and Elsa Godet Graphic design: Elsa Godet CITATION OCEAN AND CLIMATE, 2016 – Fact sheets, Second Edition. First tome here: www.ocean-climate.org With the support of: ocean-climate.org HOW DOES THE OCEAN WORK? OCEAN CIRCULATION..............................………….....………................................……………….P.4 THE OCEAN, AN INDICATOR OF CLIMATE CHANGE...............................................…………….P.6 SEA LEVEL: 300 YEARS OF OBSERVATION.....................……….................................…………….P.8 The definition of words starred with an asterisk can be found in the OCP little dictionnary section, on the last page of this document. 3 ocean-climate.org (1/2) OCEAN CIRCULATION Ocean circulation is a key regulator of climate by storing and transporting heat, carbon, nutrients and freshwater all around the world . Complex and diverse mechanisms interact with one another to produce this circulation and define its properties. Ocean circulation can be conceptually divided into two Oceanic circulation is very sensitive to the global freshwater main components: a fast and energetic wind-driven flux. This flux can be described as the difference between surface circulation, and a slow and large density-driven [Evaporation + Sea Ice Formation], which enhances circulation which dominates the deep sea. salinity, and [Precipitation + Runoff + Ice melt], which decreases salinity. Global warming will undoubtedly lead Wind-driven circulation is by far the most dynamic. to more ice melting in the poles and thus larger additions Blowing wind produces currents at the surface of the of freshwaters in the ocean at high latitudes.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean Storage
    277 6 Ocean storage Coordinating Lead Authors Ken Caldeira (United States), Makoto Akai (Japan) Lead Authors Peter Brewer (United States), Baixin Chen (China), Peter Haugan (Norway), Toru Iwama (Japan), Paul Johnston (United Kingdom), Haroon Kheshgi (United States), Qingquan Li (China), Takashi Ohsumi (Japan), Hans Pörtner (Germany), Chris Sabine (United States), Yoshihisa Shirayama (Japan), Jolyon Thomson (United Kingdom) Contributing Authors Jim Barry (United States), Lara Hansen (United States) Review Editors Brad De Young (Canada), Fortunat Joos (Switzerland) 278 IPCC Special Report on Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 279 6.7 Environmental impacts, risks, and risk management 298 6.1 Introduction and background 279 6.7.1 Introduction to biological impacts and risk 298 6.1.1 Intentional storage of CO2 in the ocean 279 6.7.2 Physiological effects of CO2 301 6.1.2 Relevant background in physical and chemical 6.7.3 From physiological mechanisms to ecosystems 305 oceanography 281 6.7.4 Biological consequences for water column release scenarios 306 6.2 Approaches to release CO2 into the ocean 282 6.7.5 Biological consequences associated with CO2 6.2.1 Approaches to releasing CO2 that has been captured, lakes 307 compressed, and transported into the ocean 282 6.7.6 Contaminants in CO2 streams 307 6.2.2 CO2 storage by dissolution of carbonate minerals 290 6.7.7 Risk management 307 6.2.3 Other ocean storage approaches 291 6.7.8 Social aspects; public and stakeholder perception 307 6.3 Capacity and fractions retained
    [Show full text]
  • Antarctic Sea Ice Control on Ocean Circulation in Present and Glacial Climates
    Antarctic sea ice control on ocean circulation in present and glacial climates Raffaele Ferraria,1, Malte F. Jansenb, Jess F. Adkinsc, Andrea Burkec, Andrew L. Stewartc, and Andrew F. Thompsonc aDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; bAtmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08544; and cDivision of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 Edited* by Edward A. Boyle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved April 16, 2014 (received for review December 31, 2013) In the modern climate, the ocean below 2 km is mainly filled by waters possibly associated with an equatorward shift of the Southern sinking into the abyss around Antarctica and in the North Atlantic. Hemisphere westerlies (11–13), (ii) an increase in abyssal stratifi- Paleoproxies indicate that waters of North Atlantic origin were instead cation acting as a lid to deep carbon (14), (iii)anexpansionofseaice absent below 2 km at the Last Glacial Maximum, resulting in an that reduced the CO2 outgassing over the Southern Ocean (15), and expansion of the volume occupied by Antarctic origin waters. In this (iv) a reduction in the mixing between waters of Antarctic and Arctic study we show that this rearrangement of deep water masses is origin, which is a major leak of abyssal carbon in the modern climate dynamically linked to the expansion of summer sea ice around (16). Current understanding is that some combination of all of these Antarctica. A simple theory further suggests that these deep waters feedbacks, together with a reorganization of the biological and only came to the surface under sea ice, which insulated them from carbonate pumps, is required to explain the observed glacial drop in atmospheric forcing, and were weakly mixed with overlying waters, atmospheric CO2 (17).
    [Show full text]