Abstract
The Arctic Ocean is connected to the Pacific by the Bering Sea and the Bering Strait. During the 4th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition, measurements of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) were used to estimate ventilation time-scales and anthropogenic CO2 (Cant) concentrations in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea based on the transit time distribution method. The profile distribution showed that there was a high-CCl4 tongue entering through the Canada Basin in the intermediate layer (27.6 < σθ < 28), at latitudes between 78 and 85°N, which may be related to the inflow of Atlantic water. Between stations B09 and B10, upwelling appeared to occur near the continental slope in the Bering Sea. The ventilation time scales (mean ages) for deep and bottom water in the Arctic Ocean (~ 230–380 years) were shorter than in the Bering Sea (~ 430–970 years). Higher mean ages show that ventilation processes are weaker in the intermediate water of the Bering Sea than in the Arctic Ocean. The mean Cant column inventory in the upper 4000 m was higher (60–82 mol m−2) in the Arctic Ocean compared to the Bering Sea (35–48 mol m−2).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aagaard K, Roach AT, Schumacher JD (1985) On the wind-driven variability of the flow through Bering Strait. J Geophys Res Oceans 90(C4):7213–7221. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC090iC04p07213
Azetsu-Scott K, Jones EP, Gershey RM (2005) Distribution and ventilation of water masses in the Labrador Sea inferred from CFCs and carbon tetrachloride. Mar Chem 94:55–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2004.07.015
Beining P, Roether W (1996) Temporal evolution of CFC 11 and CFC 12 concentrations in the ocean interior. J Geophys Res: Oceans 101(C7):16455–16464. https://doi.org/10.1029/96JC00987
Brewer PG, Bradshaw AL, Williams RT (1986) Measurements of total carbon dioxide and alkalinity in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1981. Springer, New York, pp 348–370
Bullister JL, Wisegarver DP (1998) The solubility of carbon tetrachloride in water and seawater. Deep-Sea Res Partt I Oceanogr Res Papers 45(8):1285–1302. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0637(98)00017-X
Carmack EC, MacDonald RW, Perkin RG, McLaughlin FA, Pearson RJ (1995) Evidence for warming of Atlantic water in the Southern Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean: results from the Larsen-93 Expedition. Geophys Res Lett 22(9):1061–1064. https://doi.org/10.1029/95GL00808
Carmack EC, Aagaard K, Swift JH, MacDonald RW, McLaughlin FA et al (1997) Changes in temperature and tracer distributions within the Arctic Ocean: results from the 1994 Arctic Ocean section. Deep-Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 44:1487–1502. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(97)00056-8
Chen CTA (1993) Carbonate chemistry of the wintertime Bering Sea marginal ice zone. Cont Shelf Res 13:67–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4343(93)90036-W
Chen GTA, Millero FJ (1979) Gradual increase of oceanic CO2. Nature 277(5693):205–206
Doney S, Bullister J (1992) A chlorofluorocarbon section in the eastern North Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 39(11):1857–1883. https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(92)90003-C
Fine RA (2011) Observations of CFCs and SF6 as ocean tracers. Annu Rev Mar Sci 3:173–195. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163933
Fine RA, Peacock S, Maltrud ME, Bryan FO (2017) A new look at ocean ventilation time scales and their uncertainties. J Geophys Res Oceans 122(5):3771–3798. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JC012529
Gebbie G, Huybers P (2012) The Mean Age of Ocean Waters Inferred from Radiocarbon Observations: Sensitivity to Surface Sources and Accounting for Mixing Histories. J Phys Oceanogr 42(3):515–525. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-043.1
Hall TM, Haine TWN, Waugh DW (2002) Inferring the concentration of anthropogenic carbon in the ocean from tracers. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 16(4):1131. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GB001835
Huhn O, Roether W, Beining P, Rose H (2001) Validity limits of carbon tetrachloride as an ocean tracer. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 48:2025–2049. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0637(01)00004-8
Jakobsson M (2002) Hypsometry and volume of the Arctic Ocean and its constituent seas. Geochem Geophys Geosyt 3(5):1–18. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GC000302
Johannessen OM, Carmack EC (1994) The Arctic Ocean and climate: a perspective. The polar oceans and their role in shaping the global environment. American Geophysical Union, Washington, pp 5–20
Jones EP, Anderson LG (1986) On the origin of the chemical properties of the Arctic Ocean halocline. J Geophys Res Oceans 91(C9):10759–10767. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC091iC09p10759
Jones E, Rudels B, Anderson L (1995) Deep waters of the Arctic Ocean: origins and circulation. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 42:737–760. https://doi.org/10.1016/0967-0637(95)00013-V
Karcher MJ, Oberhuber JM (2002) Pathways and modification of the upper and intermediate waters of the Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res Oceans 107(C6):2-1–2-13. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000jc000530
Karstensen J, Schlosser P, Wallace DW, Bullister J, Blindheim J (2005) Water mass transformation in the Greenland Sea during the 1990s. J Geophys Res Oceans 110:C07S20. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JC002510
Key RM, Olsen A, van Heuven S, Lauvset SK, Velo A, Lin X, Schirnick C, Kozyr A, Tanhua T, Hoppema M, Jutterström S, Steinfeldt R, Jeansson E, Ishi M, Perez FF, Suzuki T (2015) Global Ocean Data Analysis Project, Version 2 (GLODAPv2), ORNL/CDIAC-162, NDP-P093. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge. https://doi.org/10.3334/cdiac/otg.ndp093_glodapv2
Kinder TH, Coachman LK, Galt JA (1975) The bering slope current system. J Phys Oceanogr 5(2):231–244. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1975)005<0231:TBSCS>2.0.CO;2
Krysell M (1992) Carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform as tracers of deep water formation in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Mar Chem 39(4):297–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4203(92)90015-3
Krysell M, Wallace D (1988) Arctic Ocean ventilation studied with a suite of anthropogenic halocarbon tracers. Science 242(4879):746. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.242.4879.746
Krysell M, Fogelqvist E, Tanhua T (1994) Apparent removal of the transient tracer carbon-tetrachloride from anoxic seawater. Geophys Res Lett 21:2511–2514. https://doi.org/10.1029/94GL02336
Matsumoto K (2007) Radiocarbon-based circulation age of the world oceans. J Geophys Res Oceans 112:C09004. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004095
McLaughlin FA, Carmack EC, MacDonald RW, Melling H, Swift JH et al (2004) The joint roles of Pacific and Atlantic-origin waters in the Canada Basin, 1997–1998. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 51(1):107–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2003.09.010
Meredith MP, VanScoy KA, Watson AJ, Locarnini RA (1996) On the use of carbon tetrachloride as a transient tracer of Weddell Sea deep and bottom waters. Geophys Res Lett 23:2943–2946. https://doi.org/10.1029/96GL02770
Meredith MP, Watson AJ, Van Scoy KA, Haine TWN (2001) Chlorofluorocarbon-derived formation rates of the deep and bottom waters of the Weddell Sea. J Geophys Res 106:2899. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JC900119
Min DH, Warner MJ, Bullister JL (2010) Estimated rates of carbon tetrachloride removal in the thermocline and deep waters of the East Sea (Sea of Japan). Mar Chem 121:100–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2010.03.008
Cai MG, Huang P, Zhang MM, Li WQ (2013) A purge and trap gas chromatographic method for detection of chlorofluorocarbons in seawater. Chin J Anal Chem 41:268–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2040(13)60632-5
Olsen A, Key RM, van Heuven S, Lauvset SK, Velo A, Lin X, Schirnick C, Kozyr A, Tanhua T, Hoppema M, Jutterström S, Steinfeldt R, Jeansson E, Ishii M, Pérez FF, Suzuki T (2016) The Global Ocean Data Analysis Project version 2 (GLODAPv2)—an internally consistent data product for the world ocean. Earth Syst Sci Data 8:297–323. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-297-2016
Roy RN, Roy LN, Vogel KM, Porter-Moore C, Pearson T, Good CE, Millero FJ, Campbell DM (1993) The dissociation constants of carbonic acid in seawater at salinities 5 to 45 and temperatures 0 to 45°C. Mar Chem 44(2–4):249–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4203(93)90207-5
Rudels B, Jones E, Anderson L, Kattner G (1994) On the intermediate depth waters of the Arctic Ocean. In: Johannessen OM, Muench RD, Overland JE (eds) The polar oceans and their role in shaping the global environment. American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, pp 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM085p0033
Rudels B, Anderson LG, Jones EP (1996) Formation and evolution of the surface mixed layer and halocline of the Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res Oceans 101(C4):8807–8821. https://doi.org/10.1029/96JC00143
Rudels B, Fahrbach E, Meincke J, Budeus G, Eriksson P (2002) The East Greenland Current and its contribution to the Denmark Strait overflow. ICES J Mar Sci 59(6):1133–1154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.08.031
Sabine CL, Tanhua T (2010) Estimation of anthropogenic CO2 inventories in the ocean. Annu Rev Mar Sci 2:175–198. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120308-080947
Sapozhnikov VV (1993) Influence of mesoscale anticyclonic eddies on the formation of hydrochemical structures in the Bering Sea. Oceanology 33:299–304
Sarmiento JL, Orr JC, Siegenthaler U (1992) A perturbation simulation of CO2 uptake in an ocean general circulation model. J Geophys Res Oceans 97:3621–3645. https://doi.org/10.1029/91JC02849
Schlosser P, Kromer B, Östlund G, Ekwurzel B, Bönisch G et al (1994) On the 14C and 39Ar distribution in the central Arctic Ocean: implications for deep water formation. Radiocarbon 36:327–343. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003382220001451X
Schlosser P, Kromer B, Ekwurzel B, Bönisch G, McNichol A et al (1997) The first trans-Arctic 14C section: comparison of the mean ages of the deep waters in the Eurasian and Canadian basins of the Arctic Ocean. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B 123:431–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-583X(96)00677-5
Schneider A, Tanhua T, Kortzinger A, Wallace DWR (2010) High anthropogenic carbon content in the eastern Mediterranean. J Geophys Res Oceans 115:C12050. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010jc006171
Schneider A, Tanhua T, Kortzinger A, Wallace DWR (2012) An evaluation of tracer fields and anthropogenic carbon in the equatorial and the tropical North Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 67:85–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2012.05.007
Schumacher JD, Reed RK (1992) Characteristics of currents over the continental slope of the eastern Bering Sea. J Geophys Res Oceans 97(C6):9423–9433. https://doi.org/10.1029/92JC00512
Shao AE, Mecking S, Thompson L, Sonnerup RE (2013) Mixed layer saturations of CFC 11, CFC 12, and SF6 in a global isopycnal model. J Geophys Res Oceans 118:4978–4988. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrc.20370
Smethie WM, Schlosser P, Bonisch G, Hopkins TS (2000) Renewal and circulation of intermediate waters in the Canadian Basin observed on the SCICEX 96 cruise. J Geophys Res Oceans 105(C1):1105–1121. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC900233
Smith JN, McLaughlin FA, Smethie WM, Moran SB, Lepore K (2011) Iodine-129, 137Cs, and CFC 11 tracer transit time distributions in the Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res 116:C04024. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006471
Stabeno PJ, Schumache JD, Ohtani K (1999) The physical oceanography of the Bering Sea. Dynamics of the Bering Sea, pp 1–28
Stöven T, Tanhua T (2014) Ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea constrained by multiple transient tracer measurements. Ocean Sci 10(3):439–457. https://doi.org/10.5194/osd-10-1647-2013
Stöven T, Tanhua T, Hoppema M, Von Appen WJ (2015) Recent transient tracer distributions in the Fram Strait: estimation of anthropogenic carbon content and transport. Ocean Sci Discuss 12(5):2189–2229. https://doi.org/10.5194/osd-12-2189-2015
Tanhua T, Olsson KA, Jeansson E (2005) Formation of Denmark Strait overflow water and its hydro-chemical composition. J Mar Syst 57:264–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2005.05.003
Tanhua T, Waugh DW, Wallace DW (2008) Use of SF6 to estimate anthropogenic CO2 in the upper ocean. J Geophys Res Oceans 113:C04037. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004416
Tanhua T, Jones EP, Jeansson E, Jutterström S, Smethie WM et al (2009) Ventilation of the Arctic Ocean: mean ages and inventories of anthropogenic CO2 and CFC 11. J Geophys Res 114:C01002. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC004868
Völker C, Wallace DWR, Wolf-Gladrow DA (2002) On the role of heat fluxes in the uptake of anthropogenic carbon in the North Atlantic. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 16(4):1131. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002gb001897
Wallace DW (2001) Storage and transport of excess CO2 in the oceans: the JGOFS/WOCE global CO2 survey. Int Geophys 77:489–521. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0074-6142(01)80136-4
Wallace D, Beining P, Putzka A (1994) Carbon tetrachloride and chlorofluorocarbons in the South Atlantic Ocean, 19 S. J Geophys Res Oceans 99(C4):7803–7819. https://doi.org/10.1029/94JC00031
Wanninkhof R, Doney S, Peng TH, Bullister J, Lee K et al (1999) Comparison of methods to determine the anthropogenic CO2 invasion into the Atlantic Ocean. Tellus B 51:511–530. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.1999.00027.x
Warner MJ, Weiss RF (1985) Solubilities of chlorofluorocarbons 11 and 12 in water and seawater. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 32:1485–1497. https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(85)90099-8
Warner MJ, Roden GI (1995) Chlorofluorocarbon evidence for recent ventilation of the deep Bering Sea. Nature 373(6513):409–412. https://doi.org/10.1038/373409a0
Waugh DW, Hall TM, Haine TWN (2003) Relationships among tracer ages. J Geophys Res Oceans 108(C5):3138. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001325
Waugh DW, Haine TWN, Hall TM (2004) Transport times and anthropogenic carbon in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Res Part I Oceanogr Res Papers 51:1475–1491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2004.06.011
Zhao JP, Shi JX, Gao GP, Rao YT, Wang HX (2006) Water mass of the northward throughflow in the Bering Strait in the summer of 2003. Acta Oceanol Sin 25:25–32
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the assistance of the crew of the R/V Snow Dragon in sample collection during the 4th Chinese Arctic Research Expedition to the Arctic, and for support from the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, and the State Oceanic Administration of China. We gratefully thank Dr. Toste Tanhua for providing useful information on the TTD calculation Matlab toolbox, and Miming Zhang in building and testing the instrument. Professor John Hodgkiss is thanked for his assistance with English.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Deng, H., Ke, H., Huang, P. et al. Ventilation time and anthropogenic CO2 in the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean based on carbon tetrachloride measurements. J Oceanogr 74, 439–452 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-018-0471-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-018-0471-3