Summary
The long-term existence of natural biota in the environment means that such a system is stable with respect to external disturbances. This system must follow the Le Chatelier principle which is based on the processes that compensate the disturbing effects. The use of the Le Chatelier principle makes it possible to choose between contradictory observational data. Available observational data on variations of the concentration of rare carbon isotopes in various media show that the oceanic biota follows the Le Chatelier principle and absorbs about half the carbon which the ocean gets from the atmosphere, compensating an increment of carbon in the atmosphere caused by an anthropogenic impact. The strongly anthropogenically disturbed land biota does not follow the Le Chatelier principle, starting from the middle of this century. The land biota not only cannot absorb excess carbon accumulated in the atmosphere: it ejects carbon to the atmosphere in quantities equal to halved emission of carbon through fossil fuel burning. All the quantitative results considered in the paper have been obtained without using models of the biota and of the ocean.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
V. G. Gorshkov:Nuovo Cimento C,10, 365 (1987).
A. J. Lotka:Elements of Physical Biology (Williams Wilcing, Co., Baltimore, 1925).
E. M. Druffel andH. E. Suess:J. Geophys. Res. C,88, 1271 (1983).
R. Nydal andK. Lövseth:J. Geophys. Res.,88, 3621 (1983).
M. Stuiver andH. Pollach:Radiocarbon,19, 355 (1977).
R. Nydal, S. Gulliksen, K. Lövseth andF. H. Stogseth:Radiocarbon,26, 7 (1984).
V. G. Gorshkov andS. G. Sherman:Nuovo Cimento C,9, 902 (1986).
R. Nydal:J. Geophys. Res.,73, 3617 (1968).
I. G. Enting andG. I. Pearman:Description of one-dimensional global carbon cycle model, CSIRO Aust. Div. Atoms. Phys. Techn., Paper No. 42, 1 (1982).
M. Stuiver andP. D. Quay:Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,53, 349 (1981).
N. Z. Ariel, E. K. Buetner andL. A. Strokina:Izvestia of the USSR Acad. Sci., Physics of the Atmosphere and Ocean, No. 10, 1056 (1981).
W. S. Broecker, T. Takahachi, H. J. Simpson andT. H. Peng:Science,206, 409 (1979).
D. Lal andH. E. Suess:J. Geophys. Res. C,88, 3643 (1983).
H. Oeschger, U. Siegenthaler, U. Schotterer andA. Gugelman:Tellus,27, 168 (1975).
U. Siegenthaler andH. Oeschger:Tellus B,39, 140 (1987).
M. L. Wesely, D. R. Cook, R. L. Hart andR. M. Williams:J. Geophys. Res.,87, 8827 (1982).
M. R. Emmanuel, G. G. Killough, W. M. Post andH. H. Shugart:Ecology,65, 970 (1982).
T.-H. Peng, W. S. Broecker, H. D. Freyer andS. Trumbore:J. Geophys. Res.,88, 3609 (1983).
V. G. Gorshkov:Nuovo Cimento C,9, 937 (1986).
W. D. Komhyr, R. H. Gammon, T. B. Harris, L. S. Waterman, T. J. Conway, W. R. Taylor andK. W. Thoning:J. Geophys. Res. D,90, 5567 (1985).
R. M. Rotty:Tellus B,39, 203 (1987).
R. N. Houghton, R. D. Boone, J. R. Fruci, J. E. Hobbie, J. M. Mellilo, C. A. Palme, B. J. Peterson, G. R. Shaver, G. M. Woodwell, B. Moore, D. L. Scole andN. Myers:Tellus B,39, 122 (1987).
H. D. Freyer:Interpretation of the Northern hemispheric record of13C/12Ctrends of atmospheric CO2in tree rings, in:The Changing Carbon Cycle. A Global Analysis, edited byJ. R. Trabalka andD. E. Reichle (Springer Verlag, New York, N.Y., 1986), p. 125.
H. S. Goodman:The13C/12Cratio of atmospheric carbon dioxide at the Australian baseline station Cape Grim, in:Carbon Dioxide and Climate: Australian Research, edited byG. I. Pearman (Australian Acad. Sci., 1980).
C. D. Keeling, W. G. Mook andP. P. Tans:Nature,277, 121 (1979).
C. D. Keeling, R. B. Bacastow andP. P. Tans:J. Geophys. Res.,7, 505 (1980)
H. Inone, Y. Sugimura andK. Fushimi:Tellus B,39, 228 (1987).
H. Oeschger andB. Stauffer:Review of the history of atmospheric CO2decoded in ice cores, in:The Changing Carbon Cycle. A Global Analysis, edited byJ. R. Trabalka andD. E. Reichle (Springer Verlag, New York, N.Y., 1986), p. 99.
E. R. Druffel andL. M. Benavides:Nature,321, 58 (1986).
I. G. Enting andG. I. Pearman:Referents to a one-dimensional carbon cycle model, CSIRO Austr. Div. Res. Techn. Paper No.3, 1 (1983).
P. M. Williams andL. I. Gordon:Deep Sea Res.,17, 19 (1970).
U. Siegenthaler andK. O. Münnich:13C/12Cfraction during CO2transfer from air to sea, in:Carbon Cycle Modelling, SCOPE 16, edited byB. Bolin (Wiley, Chichester, 1981), p. 249.
C. D. Keeling:The carbon dioxide cycle, in:Chemistry of the Lower Atmosphere, edited byS. Rasool (Academic Press, New York, N.Y., 1973).
M. Stuiver, R. L. Burk andP. D. Quay:J. Geophys. Res.,89, 11731 (1984).
T.-H. Peng andH. D. Freyer:Revised estimates of atmospheric CO2variations based on the tree ring13Crecord in:The Changing Carbon Cycle. A Global Analysis, edited byJ. R. Trabalka andD. E. Reichle (Springer Verlag, New York, N.Y., 1986), p. 151.
F. G. Enting andJ. V. Mansbridge:Tellus B,39, 318 (1987).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gorshkov, V.G., Sherman, S.G. & Kondratyev, K.Y. The global carbon cycle change: Le Chatelier principle in the response of biota to changing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Il Nuovo Cimento C 13, 801–816 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02511997
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02511997