Carbon Uptake and Seasonal Traits of Antarctic Remineralisation Depths (CUSTARD)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Environmental Sciences
Abstract
The surface ocean is home to billions of microscopic plants called phytoplankton which produce organic matter in the surface ocean using sunlight and carbon dioxide. When they die many of them sink, taking this carbon into the deep ocean, where it may be stored for hundreds to thousands of years, which helps keep our climate the way it is today.
In general terms the size of the effect they have on our climate is linked to how deep they sink before they dissolve - the deeper they sink, the more carbon is stored. This effect is particularly important in the northern part of the Southern Ocean where the pattern of ocean currents means that the difference between shallow and deep dissolution controls whether this carbon is locked away from the surface ocean for just a few years or for centuries. This is because the area is a junction in the ocean circulation. Stacked up on each other from the surface to the seafloor at almost 5km depth are four oceanic 'motorways', taking water to different parts of the global ocean. The motorway that the carbon is dissolved into determines how long it will be kept away from the atmosphere.
For this reason, if we want to understand the role of this northern part of the Southern Ocean in regulating global climate we need to understand both how big carbon uptake is at the ocean surface and also how deep sinking material dissolves. Unfortunately we don't understand either well; data are scarce in the Southern Ocean as the weather is poor and few commercial vessels pass through there. Consequently, our theories about the pattern of the fate of sinking carbon and what controls this are untested. As a result the models that we use for predicting future climate have massive uncertainty in this region. However, the evidence that we have suggests that changes in the depth of carbon dissolution are key to understanding how the system works.
In this project we will tackle this by making new observations in a remote region of the Southern Ocean using an exciting combination of robotic vehicles and sophisticated new sensors. We will make new observations of how much carbon the ocean takes up in this key motorway junction of the Southern Ocean. We will examine the processes that control the uptake of carbon and its fate, in particular how seasonal availability of nutrients can affect the make-up of the phytoplankton which changes the depth to which carbon sinks before being dissolved.
We will combine these observations with a novel modelling approach that allows us to run the ocean part of our climate model much faster than normally. This allows us to explore the consequences of the seasonal interplay between nutrients and phytoplankton found in our data. In particular, the model allows us to 'tag' carbon so that we can trace where it goes. In this way we can measure the amount of sinking carbon ending up on each motorway and how this varies through the year.
Together with observations of the seasonal changes in nutrients and sinking carbon the model will allow us to determine the key processes regulating carbon uptake in this important area. This will provide important information to those building the UK's climate model at a time when it is being developed to provide input to a future high profile report (from the IPCC) on the state of the world's climate.
In general terms the size of the effect they have on our climate is linked to how deep they sink before they dissolve - the deeper they sink, the more carbon is stored. This effect is particularly important in the northern part of the Southern Ocean where the pattern of ocean currents means that the difference between shallow and deep dissolution controls whether this carbon is locked away from the surface ocean for just a few years or for centuries. This is because the area is a junction in the ocean circulation. Stacked up on each other from the surface to the seafloor at almost 5km depth are four oceanic 'motorways', taking water to different parts of the global ocean. The motorway that the carbon is dissolved into determines how long it will be kept away from the atmosphere.
For this reason, if we want to understand the role of this northern part of the Southern Ocean in regulating global climate we need to understand both how big carbon uptake is at the ocean surface and also how deep sinking material dissolves. Unfortunately we don't understand either well; data are scarce in the Southern Ocean as the weather is poor and few commercial vessels pass through there. Consequently, our theories about the pattern of the fate of sinking carbon and what controls this are untested. As a result the models that we use for predicting future climate have massive uncertainty in this region. However, the evidence that we have suggests that changes in the depth of carbon dissolution are key to understanding how the system works.
In this project we will tackle this by making new observations in a remote region of the Southern Ocean using an exciting combination of robotic vehicles and sophisticated new sensors. We will make new observations of how much carbon the ocean takes up in this key motorway junction of the Southern Ocean. We will examine the processes that control the uptake of carbon and its fate, in particular how seasonal availability of nutrients can affect the make-up of the phytoplankton which changes the depth to which carbon sinks before being dissolved.
We will combine these observations with a novel modelling approach that allows us to run the ocean part of our climate model much faster than normally. This allows us to explore the consequences of the seasonal interplay between nutrients and phytoplankton found in our data. In particular, the model allows us to 'tag' carbon so that we can trace where it goes. In this way we can measure the amount of sinking carbon ending up on each motorway and how this varies through the year.
Together with observations of the seasonal changes in nutrients and sinking carbon the model will allow us to determine the key processes regulating carbon uptake in this important area. This will provide important information to those building the UK's climate model at a time when it is being developed to provide input to a future high profile report (from the IPCC) on the state of the world's climate.
Planned Impact
CUSTARD will engage fully with the other funded RoSES projects and NERC to ensure CUSTARD's impact plan is integrated with wider impact activities. In addition, CUSTARD will achieve impact in the following areas:
Climate prediction:
International agreements to limit the impact of anthropogenic climate change such as COP21 are based upon accurate and precise predictions of how the earth system will respond to potential scenarios of future greenhouse gas release. Our ability to predict future trajectories of atmospheric CO2 and climate is, in turn, strongly dependent on our ability to develop robust and accurate climate models that can quantitatively demonstrate their skill in reproducing the existing CO2 record. CUSTARD will contribute directly to two aspects of this.
First, CUSTARD will collect ocean CO2 flux data year-round in the chronically under-sampled Southern Ocean. Co-I Bakker is a key member of SOCAT (http://www.socat.info), the standard source of flux data globally and widely used for policy briefings (e.g. Pollution in the open oceans: 2009-2013. Boelens, R. et al., GESAMP reports and Studies 91) and climate model testing (e.g. ESMValTool (v1.0) - A tool for evaluation of Earth System Models in CMIP: Eyring, V., et al., 2016. Geoscientific Model Development 9, doi:10.5194/gmd-9-1747-2016).
Second, CUSTARD will provide mechanistic information on the controls on carbon uptake and redistribution in the Southern Ocean. The new insights generated in CUSTARD into the seasonal variability of production and remineralisation, and the implications for ocean carbon storage will be fed through existing links into ongoing development of UKESM2, the next generation UK Earth System model for the UK's contribution to future IPCC assessments.
Autonomous sensing:
Robotics and autonomous systems were identified by the UK government in 2013 as one of 8 great technologies that will help drive economic growth. This was followed by a large (£10 million) capital investment into the MARS national facility. CUSTARD will thus be of interest to the growing community of AUV and sensors manufacturers and users, including agencies with marine monitoring obligations, e.g. Defra and CEFAS. We will hold a community workshop which will focus on best practice for using autonomous vehicles to derive information on carbon fluxes, which we will host at the NOC. Similar previous events have successfully attracted many representatives of AUV manufacturers, however, we will extend the reach to include stakeholders with a remit for ocean monitoring, such as Defra and CEFAS.
Technology:
A novel dissolved silica sensor developed by NOC's Ocean Technology and Engineering group will be deployed during CUSTARD. This is the first autonomous sensor, suitable for the marine environment, capable of measuring in situ silicate, a key component of ocean biogeochemistry. The successful demonstration of this sensor to provide high quality silicate measurements autonomously over an extended period of time will be exploited to generate interest in commercialisation of the sensor.
Science communication:
The CUSTARD team includes co-I Henson, an experienced and effective communicator to general audiences, having participated in multiple public engagement and schools activities, ranging from on-screen contributions to BBC4 TV series 'The Spectrum of Science', to being a panel member at Royal Institution debates, to lectures at the Cheltenham Science Fair, to exhibiting events aimed at school children such as the Big Bang science fair.
Project staff will also be encouraged to undertake public engagement training, such as through the public engagement courses run by NERC or Sense about Science. In addition, a new public engagement activity will be designed as part of CUSTARD and used during the annual Ocean and Earth day held at NOC (attracts > 3000 visitors) and at other events.
Climate prediction:
International agreements to limit the impact of anthropogenic climate change such as COP21 are based upon accurate and precise predictions of how the earth system will respond to potential scenarios of future greenhouse gas release. Our ability to predict future trajectories of atmospheric CO2 and climate is, in turn, strongly dependent on our ability to develop robust and accurate climate models that can quantitatively demonstrate their skill in reproducing the existing CO2 record. CUSTARD will contribute directly to two aspects of this.
First, CUSTARD will collect ocean CO2 flux data year-round in the chronically under-sampled Southern Ocean. Co-I Bakker is a key member of SOCAT (http://www.socat.info), the standard source of flux data globally and widely used for policy briefings (e.g. Pollution in the open oceans: 2009-2013. Boelens, R. et al., GESAMP reports and Studies 91) and climate model testing (e.g. ESMValTool (v1.0) - A tool for evaluation of Earth System Models in CMIP: Eyring, V., et al., 2016. Geoscientific Model Development 9, doi:10.5194/gmd-9-1747-2016).
Second, CUSTARD will provide mechanistic information on the controls on carbon uptake and redistribution in the Southern Ocean. The new insights generated in CUSTARD into the seasonal variability of production and remineralisation, and the implications for ocean carbon storage will be fed through existing links into ongoing development of UKESM2, the next generation UK Earth System model for the UK's contribution to future IPCC assessments.
Autonomous sensing:
Robotics and autonomous systems were identified by the UK government in 2013 as one of 8 great technologies that will help drive economic growth. This was followed by a large (£10 million) capital investment into the MARS national facility. CUSTARD will thus be of interest to the growing community of AUV and sensors manufacturers and users, including agencies with marine monitoring obligations, e.g. Defra and CEFAS. We will hold a community workshop which will focus on best practice for using autonomous vehicles to derive information on carbon fluxes, which we will host at the NOC. Similar previous events have successfully attracted many representatives of AUV manufacturers, however, we will extend the reach to include stakeholders with a remit for ocean monitoring, such as Defra and CEFAS.
Technology:
A novel dissolved silica sensor developed by NOC's Ocean Technology and Engineering group will be deployed during CUSTARD. This is the first autonomous sensor, suitable for the marine environment, capable of measuring in situ silicate, a key component of ocean biogeochemistry. The successful demonstration of this sensor to provide high quality silicate measurements autonomously over an extended period of time will be exploited to generate interest in commercialisation of the sensor.
Science communication:
The CUSTARD team includes co-I Henson, an experienced and effective communicator to general audiences, having participated in multiple public engagement and schools activities, ranging from on-screen contributions to BBC4 TV series 'The Spectrum of Science', to being a panel member at Royal Institution debates, to lectures at the Cheltenham Science Fair, to exhibiting events aimed at school children such as the Big Bang science fair.
Project staff will also be encouraged to undertake public engagement training, such as through the public engagement courses run by NERC or Sense about Science. In addition, a new public engagement activity will be designed as part of CUSTARD and used during the annual Ocean and Earth day held at NOC (attracts > 3000 visitors) and at other events.
Organisations
Publications
García-Ibáñez M
(2021)
Cold-water corals in the Subpolar North Atlantic Ocean exposed to aragonite undersaturation if the 2 °C global warming target is not met
in Global and Planetary Change
Dong Y
(2022)
Update on the Temperature Corrections of Global Air-Sea CO 2 Flux Estimates
in Global Biogeochemical Cycles
García-Ibáñez M
(2022)
Gaining insights into the seawater carbonate system using discrete fCO2 measurements
in Marine Chemistry
F Guallart E
(2022)
Spectrophotometric Measurement of Carbonate Ion in Seawater over a Decade: Dealing with Inconsistencies.
in Environmental science & technology
Trucco-Pignata P
(2022)
Surface oxygen balance in the Subantarctic Mode Water Formation region.
Lange N
(2023)
A status assessment of selected data synthesis products for ocean biogeochemistry
in Frontiers in Marine Science
Description | CUSTARD investigates carbon uptake by the Subantarctic South Pacific Ocean. Carbonate chemistry samples were collected on the mooring deployment cruise DY096 in November-December 2019. Carbonate chemistry data were collected on the CUSTARD process cruise DY111 in December 2019 - January 2020. Further samples were collected on the CUSTARD mooring recovery cruise DY112 in January 2020. Sample analysis and data processing for DY096, DY111 and DY112 is complete. A study on carbon pumps and carbon uptake by the Subantarctic South Pacific Ocean is underway. |
Exploitation Route | Too early to say |
Sectors | Environment |
URL | https://roses.ac.uk/custard/ |
Title | DY111 data submission for GLODAPv2.2023 |
Description | The dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, inorganic nutrient and oxygen data for research cruise DY111 on RRS Disovery. These data have been included in the Global Data Analysis Project (www.glodap.info), specifically as part of GLODAPv2.2023. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The Global Data Analysis Project (GLODAP, www.glodap.info) is an international synthesis effort of interior ocean biogeochemical data. Inclusion of the DY111 data (subject to GLODAP quality control) will make them available to researchers worldwide, for use in data analysis and for modelling activities. The CUSTARD data set is part of GLODAPv2.2023. https://glodap.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GLODAPv2.2023-release-poster.pdf (last access 13/02/2024). Lauvset, Siv K.; Lange, Nico; Tanhua, Toste; Bittig, Henry C.; Olsen, Are; Kozyr, Alex; Álvarez, Marta; Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko; Becker, Susan; Brown, Peter J.; Carter, Brendan R.; Cotrim da Cunha, Leticia; Feely, Richard A.; Hoppema, Mario; Humphreys, Matthew P.; Ishii, Masao; Jeansson, Emil; Jones, Steve D.; Lo Monaco, Claire; Murata, Akihiko; Müller, Jens Daniel; Pérez, Fiz F.; Schirnick, Carsten; Steinfeldt, Reiner; Suzuki, Toru; Tilbrook, Bronte; Ulfsbo, Adam; Velo, Antón; Woosley, Ryan J.; Key, Robert M. (2023). Global Ocean Data Analysis Project version 2.2023 (GLODAPv2.2023) (NCEI Accession 0283442). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/zyrq-ht66. Accessed [13/02/2024]. |
URL | https://doi.org/10.25921/zyrq-ht66 |
Title | Total dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity from CTD casts at stations between 54°S, 89°W and 60°S, 89°W on CUSTARD cruise DY111. (Version 1) |
Description | Garcia-Ibanez, M. I., Lee, G. A., and Bakker, D. C. E. (2024). Total dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity from CTD casts at stations between 54°S, 89°W and 60°S, 89°W on CUSTARD cruise DY111. (Version 1) [Data set]. NERC EDS British Oceanographic Data Centre NOC. https://doi.org/10.5285/0F878BBD-B62C-1605-E063-6C86ABC040EF |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The data were submitted to BODC (British Oceanographic Data Centre) on 17/01/2023. A doi-number was created in 2024. |
URL | https://doi.org/10.5285/0F878BBD-B62C-1605-E063-6C86ABC040EF |
Description | Brief intro on importance of ocean carbon uptake and panel member in discussion on 'The ocean data revolution in the Nordics.' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The oceans take up a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. This debate at the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Conference of the Parties (COP) in Glasgow highlighted the importance of high quality ocean data for quantification of the role of the ocean in carbon uptake. Sanders, R., Bakker, D. C. E., Bergman, L., Kleiven, K. F., (2021) Let's start the ocean data revolution in the Nordics! Building partnerships for integrated nature-based solutions to climate change. UNFCCC COP26, Nordic Pavilion, Glasgow, 04/11/2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx9twR_PBMU |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx9twR_PBMU |
Description | Member NERC's Strategic Need Advisory Working Group (SNAG) for Environmental Data Services |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Member NERC's Strategic Need Advisory Working Group (SNAG) for Environmental Data Services; The committee reviewed the Environmental Data Services currently available, how well they met user needs, which services would be required going forward and where improvements can be made. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Member Scientific Advisory Council of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | As a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR) I attended annual meetings of the BCCR, initially in person and online during the pandemic. The council reported their findings to the BCCR executive team. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
URL | https://bjerknes.uib.no/en/frontpage |
Description | Member Ship Underway User Group of the Marine Facilities Advisory Board, UK (2021-2022); |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Member Ship Underway User Group of the Marine Facilities Advisory Board, UK (2021-2022); On the committee I advise on surface ocean CO2 measurements and the measurements of sea water temperature required for these on the RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook. This follows the finding that the inlet temperature sensor on the RRS Discovery was subject to 0.5 degrees Celsius warming on CUSTARD cruise DY111. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
Description | Member WCRP Data Advisory Council (WDAC) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The WCRP Data Advisory Council (WDAC) of the World Climate Research Program advises the WCRP on ethical use of data and data storage and on data synthesis activities |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |
URL | https://www.wcrp-climate.org/ |
Description | Member of the UK National Committee for Antarctic Research (UKNCAR) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The UK National Committee for Antarctic Research (UKNCAR) meets annually and reviews Antarctic Research in the UK. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020,2021,2022 |
Description | Participation in online conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Poster presentation in Virtual ICOS Science Conference 2020 of the work entitled "Carbon uptake by Subantarctic Pacific waters". Author list: García-Ibáñez, M.I.; Bakker, D.C.E.; Brown, P.J.; Lee, G.A.; Martin, A.P.; Pabortsava, K.; Trucco-Pignata, P.N. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.icos-cp.eu/sc2020/abstracts#169 |
Description | Participation in online conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Short presentation in EGU General Assembly 2021 of the work entitled "Cold-water corals in the Subpolar North Atlantic Ocean exposed to aragonite undersaturation if Paris 2 ºC is not met". Author list: García-Ibáñez, M.I.; Bates, N.R.; Bakker, D.C.E.; Fontela, M.; Velo, A. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/EGU21-9649.html |
Description | Scientific adviser of NOREMSO ERIC |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | As a scientific adviser I have attended 2 annual project meetings of the NOREMSO ERIC. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
URL | https://www.uib.no/en/noremso |