Changes in Oceanic Radiocarbon and CFCs Since the 1990s

Abstract

Anthropogenic perturbations from fossil fuel burning, nuclear bomb testing, and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) use have created useful transient tracers of ocean circulation. The atmospheric ¹⁴C/C ratio (∆¹⁴C) peaked in the early 1960s and has decreased now to pre-industrial levels, while atmospheric CFC-11 and CFC-12 concentrations peaked in the early 1990s and early 2000s, respectively, and have now decreased by 10%–20%. We present the first analysis of a decade of new observations (2007 to 2018–2019) and give a comprehensive overview of the changes in ocean ∆¹⁴C and CFC concentration since the WOCE surveys in the 1990s. Surface ocean ∆¹⁴C decreased at a nearly constant rate from the 1990–2010s (20‰/decade). In most of the surface ocean ∆¹⁴C is higher than in atmospheric CO₂ while in the interior ocean, only a few places are found to have increases in ∆¹⁴C, indicating that globally, oceanic bomb ¹⁴C uptake has stopped and reversed. Decreases in surface ocean CFC-11 started between the 1990 and 2000s, and CFC-12 between the 2000–2010s. Strong coherence in model biases of decadal changes in all tracers in the Southern Ocean suggest ventilation of Antarctic Intermediate Water was enhanced from the 1990 to the 2000s, whereas ventilation of Subantarctic Mode Water was enhanced from the 2000 to the 2010s. The decrease in surface tracers globally between the 2000 and 2010s is consistently stronger in observations than in models, indicating a reduction in vertical transport and mixing due to stratification.