EOS 365 Part II Flashcards
(422 cards)
Average fate of anthropogenic CO2 emissions
~50% - atmosphere
~25% - biosphere
~25% - ocean
ocean CO2 absorption
in future will become less absorptive; fertilizer effect will decrease; atmospheric CO2 will become a higher absorber
Venus atmosphere
insolation: 654 W/m^2
albedo: 0.67
net solar: 216 W/m^2
97 atm
96% CO2
477ºC
Earth atmosphere
insolation: 342 W/m^2
albedo: 0.37
net solar: 216 W/m^2
1 atm
0.04% CO2
15ºC
Mars atmosphere
insolation: 147 W/m^2
albedo: 0.17
net solar: 122 W/m^2
0.006 atm
95% CO2
-63ºC
why mars is so cold even though 95% CO2
atmosphere is too thin to trap heat
proxy records
stable isotope ratios don’t change through time
- CaCO3 of plankton
- 12CO2 of stomata
- palaeosols
different elements
determined by number of protons in nucleus
different isotopes
determined by number of neutrons in nucleus (with same number of protons)
some stable isotopes
11/12B (80/20%)
12/13C (99/1%)
16/17/17O (99.8/.04/.2%)
fractionation
chemical, biological, physical processes occur differently for each isotope
water fractionation
H2(18)O, H2(16)O
takes more energy to evaporate heavier water (18)O
heavier water condenses easier
ocean sediment isotope ratio
cold climate– build up ice on land– ocean enriched in H2(18)O– shells have larger 18O/16O– proxy for volume of land ice and deep ocean T
photosynthesis isotope ratio
plants prefer 12CO2– become depleted in 13C relative to atmosphere
if higher CO2 in atmosphere- plant remains have less 13C
CO2 weathering thermostat
self-regulating system
slowest acting part of C cycle
most important process for stabilizing planetary climate
stable (-) feedback loop acting on million year timescales
CO2 weathering thermostat steps
CO2 emitted from volcano– atmosphere build up– dissolves in rain water– creates carbonic acid– acidic rain water– warms climate, increases rainfall– increased chemical weathering of mafics– release Ca, Mg ions into ocean– ions react w/ CO2 in seawater to produce minerals, precipitate, remove CO2– removal cools, reduces acidity of rain, slows chemical weathering
Ca + Mg + CO2 in seawater
minerals: Calcite (CaCO3), manganite (MgCO3)
precipitate: limestone
Snowball Earth
750Ma- Marinoan 635Ma- Sturtian 0.94S breakup of supercontinent, Rodinia-- more shoreline-- more evaporation near land-- enhanced weathering and CO2 drawdown continents at mid latitudes
> weathering
> volcanism
> CO2 drawdown
initiating snowball cycle
breakup supercontinent– weathering > volcanism– polar ice caps grow equator ward– runaway feedback– total ice-cover– loss of bioproductivity– weathering < volcanism
terminate snowball cycle
continental ice sheets– weathering «_space;volcanism– rapid loss of ice cover– hothouse– strong weathering draw down CO2– rate slows w/ sea level rise– equilib restored
Phanerozoic
541Ma - Present
age of multicellular life and fossils; proxy data for CO2, not much for T
Cenozoic
65Ma - present
ocean T proxies (δ18O)- compare CO2 and T
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal maximum
56Ma- sudden massive injection of light C into atmosphere-ocean: 3000-10,000PgC, 3000-20,000 yrs, 5-7º warming
δ13C, δ18O drop ~2%