EXport Pathways Out of the Southern ocean and the Effect on anthropogenic carbon sequestration (Expose)

新的方法将应用于海洋计算机模型模拟的层次结构，以解决气候科学面临的一个主要问题：大气中释放的人为碳如何注入并锁定在南大洋表面以下1公里处？世界海洋通过吸收人类活动排放的大部分二氧化碳来减缓气候变化的速度。南大洋寒冷多风，有利于二氧化碳与大气的交换。因此，世界海洋中固存的碳有一半是通过南大洋表面转移的，因此为气候变化提供了重要的缓冲。有人提议研究海洋表面和深海内部之间联系的动力学。是水团和碳缓慢而均匀地向深海扩散，还是相反，在深海中有狭窄而密集的碳高速公路。稀疏的海洋观测倾向于显示后者，但这些路径的动态和定位从未被研究过。这与这些出口对气候产生强烈和直接影响的证据不符。该项目的目标是收集各种最近开发的非常强大和互补的工具，以应用于南大洋碳固存动态的具体问题。具体来说，我们将研究在深海层中输出水团和碳的洋流在哪里形成，以及它们的输出率是多少。但更重要的是，使用各种计算机模型模拟，我们将调查控制本地化和出口率的过程。如果我们要预测南大洋碳固存在未来是否可能发生变化，对气候产生巨大影响，这是一个重大问题。这一处于物理学和地球化学交叉点的项目将吸取两者的精华，有助于对南大洋环流动态的新认识，并将对气候反馈产生影响，从而使我们对气候的理解和预测未来变化的能力取得重大进展。

Copied from lead grant document.New approaches will be applied to a hierarchy of ocean computer model simulations to address a major issue facing climate science: how anthropogenic carbon released in the atmosphere is injected and locked away at more at 1 km below the Southern Ocean surface ? The World's oceans slow the rate of climate change by absorbing a large proportion of CO2 emission due to human activity. The Southern Ocean is cold and windy, which favours the exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere. As a result, half of the carbon sequestrated in the world's oceans has been transferred through the Southern Ocean surface, providing therefore a significant buffer for climate change. It is proposed to study the dynamics of the connection between the ocean surface and the deep ocean interior. Are water-masses and carbon slowly and uniformly diffused toward the deep sea or conversely are there narrow and intense carbon motorways plunging in the deep sea. Sparse ocean observations tend to show the latter, but the dynamics and the localisation of these pathways have never been studied. This is at odds with the evidence that these exports have a strong and direct impact on climate. The goal of this project is to gather a variety of recently developed very powerful and complementary tools to apply to the specific question of the dynamics of the Southern Ocean carbon sequestration. Specifically, we will investigate where the currents exporting water-masses and carbon in the deep ocean layers form and what is their rate of export. But more importantly, using a variety of computer model simulations we will investigate what are the processes that control the localisation and rates of export. This is a major question if we are to predict whether Southern Ocean carbon sequestration is likely to change in the future, with dramatic impact on climate. This project at the cross-road of physics and biogeochemistry will extract the best of each, will contribute to new insight into the dynamics of the Southern Ocean circulation and will have implications for climate feedbacks that will lead to major advances in our understanding of climate and in our ability to predict future change.