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Originally published in Science Express on 27 March 2003
Science 18 April 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5618, pp. 480 - 482
DOI: 10.1126/science.1080796
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Reports

A 23,000-Year Record of Surface Water pH and PCO2 in the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean

M. R. Palmer1* and P. N. Pearson2

The oceans play a major role in defining atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, and although the geographical distribution of CO2 uptake and release in the modern ocean is understood, little is known about past distributions. Boron isotope studies of planktonic foraminifera from the western equatorial Pacific show that this area was a strong source of CO2 to the atmosphere between approximately 13,800 and 15,600 years ago. This observation is most compatible with increased frequency of La Niña conditions during this interval. Hence, increased upwelling in the eastern equatorial Pacific may have played an important role in the rise in atmospheric CO2 during the last deglaciation.

1 School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Southampton Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
2 Department of Earth Sciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Post Office Box 914, Cardiff CF10 3YE, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pmrp{at}soc.soton.ac.uk

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