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Calcium carbonate pump during Quaternary glacial cycles in the South China Sea

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

The preservation and dissolution of calcium carbonate (namely calcium carbonate pump) controls the pH of seawater in global oceans by its buffer effect, and in turn plays a significant role in global changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration. The results from measured carbonate contents over the past 2 Ma at ODP Site 1143 in the South China Sea provide high-resolution records to explore the process of the calcium carbonate pump during Quaternary glacial cycles. The results indicate statistically that the highest carbonate accumulation rate leads the lightest δ18O by about 3.6 ka at transitions from glacials to interglacials, and that the strongest carbonate dissolution lags the lightest δ18O by about 5.6 ka at transitions from interglacials to glacials. The calcium carbonate pump releases CO2 to the atmosphere at the glacial-interglacial transitions, but transports atmospheric CO2 to deep sea at the interglacial-glacial transitions. The adjustable function of the calcium carbonate pump for the deep-sea CO 2−3 concentration directly controls parts of global changes in atmospheric CO2, and contributes the global carbon cycle system during the Quaternary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, 200092, Shanghai, China

    Zhifei Liu, Jian Xu, Jun Tian & Pinxian Wang

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  1. Zhifei Liu
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  2. Jian Xu
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  3. Jun Tian
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  4. Pinxian Wang
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Correspondence to Zhifei Liu.

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Liu, Z., Xu, J., Tian, J. et al. Calcium carbonate pump during Quaternary glacial cycles in the South China Sea. Chin.Sci.Bull. 48, 1862–1869 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03184069

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03184069

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