A box diffusion model to study the carbon dioxide exchange in nature

Phenomena related to the natural carbon cycle as the 14 C distribution between atmosphere and ocean and the atmospheric response to the input of fossil fuel CO 2 and of 14 C produced in nuclear weapon tests have been quantitatively discussed by other authors using box models. However the exchange coefficients derived from the natural 14 C distribution do not agree with those valid to describe the short-term phenomena. A model consisting of a well mixed atmospheric box coupled to a long-term biosphere, of an ocean surface box and a diffusive deep ocean is discussed. The dynamic parameters were derived from the preindustrial 14 C distribution in atmosphere and ocean. A consistent description of phenomena with completely different characteristic times is possible, because in the box diffusion model the flux from mixed layer to deep sea increases for decreasing time constants of the perturbations. This is in contrary to box models where it is essentially independent of the time constants if they are smaller than a few hundred years. Due to this fact our model is valid for predictions of the atmospheric CO 2 response to the various possible future CO 2 input time functions. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1975.tb01671.x

[1]  H. Suess Radiocarbon Concentration in Modern Wood , 1955, Science.

[2]  H. Craig,et al.  The Natural Distribution of Radiocarbon and the Exchange Time of Carbon Dioxide Between Atmosphere and Sea , 1957 .

[3]  Roger Revelle,et al.  Carbon Dioxide Exchange Between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2 during the Past Decades , 1957 .

[4]  G. S. Callendar On the Amount of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere , 1958 .

[5]  On the Frequency Response of Some Different Models Describing the Transient Exchange of Matter between the Atmosphere and the Sea , 1959 .

[6]  J. Bray An Analysis of the Possible Recent Change in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration , 1959 .

[7]  Charles D. Keeling,et al.  The Concentration and Isotopic Abundances of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere , 1960 .

[8]  Wallace S. Broecker,et al.  Natural radiocarbon in the Atlantic Ocean , 1960 .

[9]  On the Exchange of Carbon Dioxide between the Atmosphere and the Sea , 1960 .

[10]  N. W. Rakestraw,et al.  Radiocarbon Concentration in Pacific Ocean Water , 1960 .

[11]  C. D. Keeling,et al.  Large‐scale atmospheric mixing as deduced from the seasonal and meridional variations of carbon dioxide , 1963 .

[12]  W. Broecker Radioisotopes and the rate of mixing across the main thermoclines of the ocean , 1966 .

[13]  R. Nydal Further investigation on the transfer of radiocarbon in nature , 1968 .

[14]  H. Craig Abyssal carbon and radiocarbon in the Pacific , 1969 .

[15]  R. Nydal,et al.  Prospective decrease in atmospheric radiocarbon , 1970 .

[16]  B. Bolin,et al.  Variations of the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere in the northern hemisphere , 1970 .

[17]  W. Bischof Carbon dioxide concentration in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. III , 1971 .

[18]  R. Buddemeier,et al.  RADIOCARBON IN THE SEA. , 1971 .

[19]  K. H. Bathen On the seasonal changes in the depth of the mixed layer in the north Pacific Ocean , 1972 .

[20]  T. A. Rafter,et al.  $sup 14$C measurements in the atmosphere and in the South Pacific Ocean. A recalculation of the exchange rates between the atmosphere and the ocean , 1972 .

[21]  H. Oeschger,et al.  Reservoir models and production rate variations of natural radiocarbon , 1973 .

[22]  A. W. Fairhall Accumulation of Fossil CO2 in the Atmosphere and the Sea , 1973, Nature.

[23]  C. D. Keeling The Carbon Dioxide Cycle: Reservoir Models to Depict the Exchange of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide with the Oceans and Land Plants , 1973 .

[24]  Charles D. Keeling,et al.  Industrial production of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and limestone , 1973 .