| Session Description |
The ocean is a large sink of anthropogenic CO2. Presently, about one quarter of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning and land use change is absorbed by the ocean. The cycling of carbon in the ocean is governed by a number of physical, dynamical, and biogeochemical processes, which involve complex interactions with the cycling of nutrients, oxygen, and other biogeochemical elements. Our understanding of the ocean carbon cycle relies on observations and modeling at different temporal and spatial scales. This session seeks contributions from a wide range of areas with the goal of improving process-level understanding of the ocean carbon cycle. These include, but are not restricted to, observational characteristics of the ocean carbon cycle and carbon-related tracers, development and implementation of ocean carbon cycle models at both the global and regional scales, modeling studies of carbon-related tracers such as oxygen and nutrients, using models to interpret observed behavior of the ocean carbon cycle and/or using observations to guide modeling practice, and response of the ocean carbon cycle and carbon-related tracers to past and future climate change. |
