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Radiocarbon Distributions In Southern Ocean Dissolved And Particulate Organic Matter, Erm Druffel, Je Bauer

VIMS Articles

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the largest actively exchanging pool of organic carbon in the ocean, yet its sources and sinks are not well constrained. The average C-14 ages of DOC in the deep N. Atlantic and N. Pacific Oceans are 4,000 [Bauer et al., 1992; Druffel et al., 1992] and 6,000 years [Williams and Druffel, 1987], respectively, and represent the beginning and end of the deep ocean conveyor [Broecker, 1991]. Here we report that the deep Southern Ocean DOC has a C-14 age (5,600 y) much closer to that of the deep N. Pacific, but its concentration in seawater …