Identification

Title

Parameterizing bubble-mediated air-sea gas exchange and its effect on ocean ventilation

Abstract

Bubbles play an important role in the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and ocean, altering both the rate of exchange and the equilibrium gas saturation state. We develop a parameterization of bubble-mediated gas fluxes for use in Earth system models. The parameterization is derived from a mechanistic model of the oceanic boundary layer that simulates turbulent flows and the size spectrum of bubbles across a range of wind speeds and is compared against other published formulations. Bubble-induced surface supersaturation increases rapidly with wind speed and is inversely related to temperature at a given wind speed, making the effect of bubbles greatest in regions that ventilate the deep ocean. The bubble-induced supersaturation in high-latitude surface waters compensates a substantial fraction of the undersaturation caused by surface cooling. Using a global ocean transport model, we show that this parameterization reproduces observed saturation rate profiles of the noble gas Argon in the deep Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The abyssal argon supersaturation caused by bubbles varies according to gas solubility, ranging from ∼0.7% for soluble gases like CO₂ to ∼1.7% for less soluble gases such as N₂. Bubble-induced supersaturation may be significant for biologically active gases such as oxygen.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7xk8gf1

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2013-09-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact