Chemical Oceanography And The Marine Carbon Cycle

by Steven Emerson, John Hedges

• ISBN13: 9780521833134
• ISBN10: 0521833132
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-08
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The principles of chemical oceanography provide insight into the processes regulating the marine carbon cycle. The text offers a background in chemical oceanography and a description of how chemical elements in seawater and ocean sediments are used as tracers of physical, biological, chemical and geological processes in the ocean. The first seven chapters present basic topics of thermodynamics, isotope systematics and carbonate chemistry, and explain the influence of life on ocean chemistry and how it has evolved in the recent (glacial-interglacial) past. This is followed by topics essential to understanding the carbon cycle, including organic geochemistry, air-sea gas exchange, diffusion and reaction kinetics, the marine and atmosphere carbon cycle and diagenesis in marine sediments. Figures are available to download from www.cambridge.org/9780521833134. Ideal as a textbook for upper-level undergraduates and graduates in oceanography, environmental chemistry, geochemistry and earth science and a valuable reference for researchers in oceanography.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. x
Introduction to chemical oceanography	p. 1
Oceanography background: dissolved chemicals, circulation and biology in the sea	p. 3
A chemical perspective	p. 3
Constituents of seawater	p. 5
Ocean circulation	p. 17
Ocean biology	p. 24
Geochemical mass balance: dissolved chemical inflow and outflow from the ocean	p. 33
Mass balance between input from land and authigenic mineral formation	p. 34
Reverse weathering	p. 43
Hydrothermal circulation	p. 46
Summary and conclusions	p. 57
An extremely brief review of rocks and minerals	p. 58
The meaning of residence time	p. 59
Thermodynamics background	p. 63
The properties of water and ions	p. 64
Ion-ion interactions and activity coefficients	p. 70
Thermodynamic basics	p. 73
Equilibrium constraints on chemical activities	p. 77
Redox reaction basics	p. 89
Carbonate Chemistry	p. 101
Acids and bases in seawater	p. 103
Carbonate equilibria: calculating the pH of seawater	p. 112
Kinetics of CO[subscript 2] reactions in seawater	p. 116
Processes that control the alkalinity and DIC of seawater	p. 118
Carbonate system equilibrium equations in seawater	p. 127
Equations for calculating the equilibrium constants of the carbonate and borate buffer system	p. 130
Stable and radioactive isotopes	p. 134
Stable isotopes	p. 137
Radioactive isotopes	p. 153
Relating K, [alpha], [delta], and [epsilon] in stable isotope terminology	p. 169
Derivation of the Rayleigh distillation equation	p. 170
Life processes in the ocean	p. 173
A simple model of ocean circulation and biological processes	p. 174
The euphotic zone	p. 179
Biologically driven export from the euphotic zone	p. 188
Respiration below the euphotic zone	p. 203
Paleoceanography and paleoclimatology	p. 219
The marine sedimentary record: 0-800 ky	p. 220
The ice core record: 0-800 ky	p. 243
Abrupt (millennial-scale) climate change	p. 249
Advanced topics in marine geochemistry	p. 259
Marine organic geochemistry	p. 261
The nature of organic matter	p. 264
Methods of characterizing organic matter	p. 266
Major organic carbon compounds as biomarkers	p. 277
Dissolved organic matter in seawater	p. 294
Molecular diffusion and reaction rates	p. 303
Molecular diffusion	p. 304
Reaction rates	p. 310
Reaction rate catalysis	p. 326
Gases and air-water exchange	p. 340
Air-sea gas transfer models	p. 343
Measurements of gas exchange rates in nature	p. 350
Gas saturation in the oceans	p. 357
Surface films and chemical reactions	p. 366
The global carbon cycle: interactions between the atmosphere and ocean	p. 372
The global carbon cycle	p. 373
The biological and solubility pumps of the ocean	p. 376
The fate of anthropogenic CO[subscript 2] in the ocean	p. 384
Chemical reactions in marine sediments	p. 404
Diagenesis and preservation of organic matter	p. 406
Diagenesis and preservation of calcium carbonate	p. 419
Diagenesis and preservation of silica	p. 428
Diagenesis and preservation of metals	p. 433
Conclusions	p. 439
Index	p. 445
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