title: Marine radiocarbon evidence for the mechanism of deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise.
abstract: We reconstructed the radiocarbon activity of intermediate waters in the eastern North Pacific over the past 38,000 years. Radiocarbon activity paralleled that of the atmosphere, except during deglaciation, when intermediate-water values fell by more than 300 per mil. Such a large decrease requires a deglacial injection of very old waters from a deep-ocean carbon reservoir that was previously well isolated from the atmosphere. The timing of intermediate-water radiocarbon depletion closely matches that of atmospheric carbon dioxide rise and effectively traces the redistribution of carbon from the deep ocean to the atmosphere during deglaciation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. tom.marchitto@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Marchitto
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lehman
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flückiger
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Geen