How does the Pinatubo eruption influence our understanding of long-term changes in ocean biogeochemistry?

Olivarez, H. C., Lovenduski, N. S., Eddebbar, Y. A., Fay, A. R., McKinley, G. A., et al. (2024). How does the Pinatubo eruption influence our understanding of long-term changes in ocean biogeochemistry?. Geophysical Research Letters, doi:https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105431

Title How does the Pinatubo eruption influence our understanding of long-term changes in ocean biogeochemistry?
Genre Article
Author(s) H. C. Olivarez, N. S. Lovenduski, Y. A. Eddebbar, A. R. Fay, G. A. McKinley, Michael N. Levy, Matthew Long
Abstract Pinatubo erupted during the first decadal survey of ocean biogeochemistry, embedding its climate fingerprint into foundational ocean biogeochemical observations and complicating the interpretation of long-term biogeochemical change. Here, we quantify the influence of the Pinatubo climate perturbation on externally forced decadal and multi-decadal changes in key ocean biogeochemical quantities using a large ensemble simulation of the Community Earth System Model designed to isolate the effects of Pinatubo, which cleanly captures the ocean biogeochemical response to the eruption. We find increased uptake of apparent oxygen utilization and preindustrial carbon over 1993-2003. Nearly 100% of the forced response in these quantities are attributable to Pinatubo. The eruption caused enhanced ventilation of the North Atlantic, as evidenced by deep ocean chlorofluorocarbon changes that appear 10-15 years after the eruption. Our results help contextualize observed change and contribute to improved constraints on uncertainty in the global carbon budget and ocean deoxygenation.
Publication Title Geophysical Research Letters
Publication Date Jan 28, 2024
Publisher's Version of Record https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105431
OpenSky Citable URL https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7tb1c2v
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