Project: Measurements of stable carbon isotopes on board GO-SHIP cruises in the South Atlantic Ocean to enhance our ability to quantify anthropogenic CO2 uptake rates by the ocean

NSF Award Abstract:
Rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, global climate change, and the sustainability of the Earth’s biosphere are of great scientific and societal concern. Approximately one-quarter of fossil fuel emissions of carbon dioxide emitted each year are absorbed by the oceans, and it is important to understand where and how fast this process occurs. Stable isotopes of carbon can be used as a “signature” to identify fossil fuel-derived carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ocean. The investigators have developed a new method for measuring the stable carbon isotope composition of dissolved carbon dioxide rapidly and precisely while at sea. They will measure several thousand samples on two research expeditions to the South Atlantic Ocean. They will compare their measurements to ones made in the same locations approximately ten years earlier, and determine the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed over that time period. The proposed research will enhance ocean carbon research infrastructure, general science education, and public awareness of climate change and environmental issues. The investigators plan to enhance diversity in earth sciences by recruiting underrepresented minority students in the research and have a graduate and an undergraduate student involved in all phases of this project. The team, including the students, will actively disseminate the research results in international, national, regional, local education and outreach activities, and in peer-review journals.

In the South Atlantic Ocean, anthropogenic CO2 uptake rates are high and variable as mode and intermediate waters are formed and are sensitive to climate changes. The carbon-13 Suess effect makes delta13C-CO2 in the atmosphere a clearly defined endmember and delta13C-DIC in the ocean a powerful tracer to independently estimate anthropogenic CO2 uptake and storage in the ocean. The team has developed a precise, rapid, and sea-going method to simultaneously measure dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration (to plus or minus 2 micromol per kilogram) and stable carbon isotope composition (delta13C-DIC) (to plus or minus 0.03 permil) by combining a CO2 extraction device with a Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) isotope analyzer. They will use this method aboard GO-SHIP cruises A13.5 and A16S to analyze about 1000 samples onboard the ship and 2000 samples on land for each cruise. Extensive evaluation and comparison of this method with the traditional isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS)-based method will be done. The PIs hypothesize that the formation and the strength of mode and intermediate waters have a strong influence on the lateral transport of anthropogenic carbon and thus the decadal variability of the water column anthropogenic carbon inventory change. As a result, the change in inventory has both meridional and zonal trends, and therefore a combination of A13.5 and A16S will better represent the basin-wide changes. Two objectives will be achieved in testing this hypothesis: (1) Demonstrate that precise and accurate delta13C-DIC data, comparable in quality to IRMS-based data, can be collected via the CRDS-based method, and that large numbers of samples can be analyzed onboard ships and back home with high spatial resolution comparable to other GO-SHIP level 1 parameters such as DIC; (2) Assess the spatial variations and temporal changes of the anthropogenic carbon uptake and storage rates in the South Atlantic Ocean. In particular, the PIs will compare estimated anthropogenic carbon inventories independently from delta13C-DIC and DIC observations from transect A13.5 (2022 vs. 2010 and earlier data) in the eastern basin with those of transect A16S (2024 vs. 2013 and earlier data) in the western basin. They will also compare the basin-wide water column anthropogenic 13C-DIC inventory with the surface ocean anthropogenic 13CO2 uptake flux estimated from air-sea carbon isotope disequilibrium, the difference being anthropogenic carbon carried by lateral transport.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.