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FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 7, JULY 1991

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
THE CARBON CYCLE

Item #d91jul53

"Present-Day CO₂ Emissions from Volcanos," T.M. Gerlach (Cascades Volcano Observ., USGS, 5400 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver WA 98661), Eos, 72(23), 249, 254-255, June 4, 1991. Reviews results and implications of past efforts to measure rates of CO₂ degassing from volcanos. Makes a few comparisons between volcanic and anthropogenic CO₂ emission rates.

Item #d91jul54

Nature, 351(6325), May 30, 1991.

"Etna's Greenhouse Pump," T. Gerlach (addr. immed. above), 352-353. A discussion of the role of volcanos in the global CO₂ cycle, both before and after industrialization, and of reasons for the unusually large CO₂ output of Mt. Etna, documented in the following article.

"Eruptive and Diffuse Emissions of CO₂ from Mount Etna," P. Allard (Ctr. Faibles Radioactivités, CNRS-CEA, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France), J. Carbonnelle et al., 387-391.

Item #d91jul55

"Enhanced Particle Fluxes in Bay of Bengal Induced by Injection of Fresh Water," V. Ittekkot (Inst. Biogeochem., Univ. Hamburg, Bundesstr. 55, 2000 Hamburg 13, Ger.), R.R. Nair et al., ibid., 385-387.

To understand the possible effect of freshwater injection by the melting of ice sheets during deglaciation on the uptake of atmospheric CO₂, data were collected in the Bay of Bengal, which is subject to large seasonal changes in surface salinity. Freshwater pulses during glaciation are likely to have resulted in short-term episodes of increased oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO₂.

Item #d91jul56

"Model Estimates of CO₂ Emissions from Soil in Response to Global Warming," D.S. Jenkinson (Dept. Soil Sci., Univ. Reading, Reading RG1 5AQ, UK), D.E. Adams, A. Wild, ibid., 351(6324), 304-306, May 23, 1991.

Uses the Rothamsted model for turnover of organic matter in the soil to calculate the amount of CO₂ that would be released, a positive feedback mechanism. If world temperatures rise by 0.03° C y-1, considered most likely by the IPCC, the additional release of CO₂ from soil organic matter over the next 60 years will be about 19% of the CO₂ that will be released by combustion of fossil fuel with uncontrolled fuel use.

Item #d91jul57

Nature, 351(6323), May 16, 1991.

"No Change Down Under," W.H. Berger (Scripps Inst. Oceanog., La Jolla CA 92093), 186-187. Discusses implications of the following article by Mortlock et al., which challenges the conventional view of the Antarctic Ocean as a sink for atmospheric CO₂ during past glacial periods through increased biological activity. Without this potential regulatory mechanism for CO₂, the observed variations in atmospheric CO₂ become more enigmatic.

"Evidence for Lower Productivity in the Antarctic Ocean during the Last Glaciation, R.A. Mortlock (Lamont Geol. Observ., Palisades NY 10964), C.D. Charles et al., 220-223.

Item #d91jul58

"Atmosphere-Biosphere Exchange of Carbon Dioxide in Boreal Forests," G.B. Bonan (NCAR, POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307), J. Geophys. Res., 96(D4), 7301-7312, Apr. 20, 1991.

An ecophysiological model of photosynthesis and respiration by forest ecosystems was used to examine CO₂ fluxes in 23 mature boreal forests near Fairbanks, Alaska. Simulated soil respiration, photosynthesis, decomposition, and moss and tree productivity were consistent with observed data. Alaskan boreal forests may play an active role in the seasonal dynamics of atmospheric CO₂ at Barrow; their metabolic activity results in a significant uptake of CO₂.

Item #d91jul59

Special Issue: Third International Conference on Analysis and Evaluation of Atmospheric CO₂ Data, Present and Past (Hinterzarten, Germany, 1989), I. Levin, P. Tans, Eds., Tellus, 43B(2), Apr. 1991. Published by Swed. Geophys. Soc., c/o Editorial Off., Arrhenius Lab., S-10691 Stockholm, Swed.

Contains 17 papers from the 83 presented. Discussions emphasized the large remaining uncertainties about the relative amount of anthropogenic CO₂ being taken up by oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. These uncertainties are of the order of 30% of the recent fossil fuel CO₂ input into the atmosphere. The currently operating atmospheric CO₂ monitoring network (up to now mainly designed to monitor global oceanic background conditions) has to be expanded to include continental sites; global ocean coverage is also needed.

Item #d91jul60

Comment on implications for the global climate cycle of data on atom-bomb-derived 14C, G.H. Rau (Inst. Marine Sci., Univ. California, Santa Cruz CA 95064), Nature, 350(6314), 116, Mar. 14, 1991.

Item #d91jul61

"Spatial Variability in the Sink for Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide in the North Atlantic," A.J. Watson (Marine Lab., Prospect Pl., W. Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK), C. Robinson et al., ibid., 350(6313), 50-53, Mar. 7, 1991.

In the spring of 1989, large variations in CO₂ partial pressure on spatial scales of <<100 km were observed to correlate with plankton, chlorophyll, surface temperature and total inorganic carbon, showing that the air-sea flux is strongly modulated by biological activity and variable on short spatial scales. This inhomogeneity suggests that estimates of the oceanic sink for fossil fuels inferred from existing sparse data will be subject to significant error.

Item #d91jul62

"Importance of Continental Margins in the Marine Biogeochemical Cycling of Carbon and Nitrogen," J.J. Walsh, ibid., 53-55. Sediment trap data indicate that the annual supply of onwelling nitrate from the deep sea to the shelves may balance the offshore flux of carbon, suggesting that the continental margins and deep sea are equally important in the carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles.

Item #d91jul63

"Carbon Dioxide and Temperature," J.B. Marston (Lab. Atomic Phys., Cornell Univ., Ithaca NY 14853), M. Oppenheimer et al., ibid., 349(6310), 573-574, Feb. 14, 1991. High coherence is exhibited between a 30-year record of monthly CO₂ concentrations and equatorial air temperature, suggesting a possible positive feedback mechanism for global warming.

Item #d91jul64

"Distribution of Carbon Dioxide Partial Pressure in Surface Waters of the Southwest Indian Ocean," C. Goyet (Lab. Phys. Chem. Marines, Univ. Curie, 4 Pl. Jussieu, Tour 24-25, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France), C. Beauverger et al., Tellus, 43B(1), 1-11, Feb. 1991.

Describes geographical, annual and seasonal variability of the CO₂ partial pressure, including the characteristic phase change of the seasonal oceanic surface pCO₂ signal with latitude. In the southern region of the Antarctic convergence, both the measured and calculated pCO₂ values agree with those of GEOSECS, and confirm that this region is probably a source of CO₂ to the atmosphere throughout the year.

Item #d91jul65

"A Model of Carbon Storage in Forests and Forest Products," R.C. Dewar (Inst. Terr. Ecol., Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, Scotland), Tree Physiol., 6(4), 417-428, Dec. 1990.

The model describes carbon storage as a function of the forest growth curve, the rotation period and the carbon retention curves for timber products. Relationships between management for sustained biomass yield and maximum carbon storage are analyzed.