Oceans play an important role in climate system response during periods of warmth due to their ability to take up and store large volumes of carbon.  Various temperature-sensitive physical and biological feedback mechanisms hinder our ability to constrain the direction and magnitude of such a response, further posing a particular challenge in our ability to predict near and long-term fate of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.

I am interested in investigating two such levers, overturning circulation and temperature-dependent remineralization, using a data-model approach in the context of the warm Pliocene, which is commonly used as an analog for investigating warm climate systems similar to today. Specifically, I am working to reconstruct water column δ¹³C and δ¹¹B (pH) signals as proxies for water mass changes resulting from either enhanced ventilation in the North Pacific (PMOC) or decreased biological pump efficiency resulting from enhanced temperature-dependent bacterial remineralization in the upper ocean (or perhaps some combination of both).  Preliminary results indicate data-model mismatch for circulation-only changes, motivating our upcoming  simulations including temperature-dependent remineralization.

Top Image: Generalized schematic illustrating different components of the global carbon cycle. Bottom Image: Preview of poster presented at Goldschmidt Conference, July, 2023. Click on individual images for higher resolution.