ANDREX Project

GS-I: ANDREX Project

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Scientists have made a new discovery challenging the previous understanding of the link between the Southern Ocean next to Antarctica and the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
The study published in a journal shows that biological processes far out at sea are the most important factors determining how the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide.

ANDREX Project

Researchers studied the ocean circulation and carbon concentration of the Weddell Gyre a region lying east of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The team studied data collected as part of the ANDREX project (Antarctic Deep water Rates of Export) which measured the physical, biological, and chemical properties of the waters in the gyre between 2008 and 2010.
The data considered in this study showed unambiguously that, in the Weddell Gyre, the dominant process enabling the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and its removal to the deep ocean included the role of phytoplanktons.

Role of Southern Ocean in CO2 absorption

Carbon dioxide is absorbed in the surface oceans and stored in the deep seas, gradually, over a timescale of 100s to 1,000s years.
The Southern Ocean plays a critical role in how carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere.
It helps scientists understand its role during dramatic climate transitions in the past, such as the ice ages, and better predict current and future climate change.
Whether carbon is released into the atmosphere or trapped in the deep ocean, is crucially determined by the transformation of the water from light to dense which is in turn caused by cooling at the ocean’s surface.

Outcomes

The dominant factor driving the uptake of carbon from the atmosphere to the ocean was not related to dense water formation in the shallow seas close to Antarctica, but rather to biological processes further out in the sea.
The results carry implications for our understanding of how the high-latitude Southern Ocean, close to the Antarctic continent, influences atmospheric carbon and global climate on 100 to 1000-year timescales.

Source: The Hindu

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