Chlorofluorocarbons in the Ocean

Cesar Colon August 1, 2005

Ocean Tracer Group

Cesar Colon Dr. Tim Hall Dr. Christian Rodehacke Rayhan Ahmed Scott Alfano

Introduction
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are trace gases of
industrial origin and are infamous for their role in stratospheric ozone depletion. Less well known the fact that a small fraction of atmospheric CFCs have entered the ocean via gas exchange

CFCs are chemically inert in seawater, and are

carried by currents and turbulent mixing

Introduction (cont.)
Propagation of CFCs from surface entry points to
ocean interior provides crucial information on rates of ocean transport

This information can be applied to quantities

such as CO2 and heat

Project Tasks
Work with ocean CFC data to document the
evolution of CFCs in ocean surface waters; Quantifying this evolution is the first step in extracting information from CFC surface-tointerior transport rates

Work with measurements taken during several

sea-going research routes, coupled with the observed atmospheric CFC history

Project Tasks (cont.)

Compare actual surface water CFC
concentrations to those that would be expected if surface water CFCs were in equilibrium with atmosphere, using well known equilibrium relationships

Project Goals
Quantify the oceans role in sequestering
quantities of CFCs and other gases in order to better understand the Earths climate

Learning how the difference from air-sea

equilibrium of CFCs has changed over time

Atmospheric History
XCFC Dry Air Vs. Time 600 500

400

X CFC Dry Air

300

CFC-11 Nothern Hemisphere CFC-11 Southern Hemisphere

200

CFC-12 Northern Hemisphere CFC-12 Southern Hemisphere

100

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Year

The Indian Ocean

Well represented during WOCE, therefore plenty
of data

Some data goes back to late 1980s. It is

important to have well documented history because it provides more detail for analysis

Indian Ocean Data

Indian Ocean Data (cont.)

Indian Ocean Data (cont.)

Region Analyzed
We looked for a region with large time overlap in terms
of data gathered, as well as a small enough region so that T and S dont vary much

Indian Ocean CFC-11

CFC-11 Actual & Theoretical Values Vs. Time
3 12/1/1994 Jan-95 2.5 Dec-87 Nov-87 Jul-95 Apr-95 Jun-95 Feb-96

CFC-11 Concentration [pmol/kg]

1.5

CFC-11 Actual CFC-11 Theoretical

0.5

0 Feb-86

Jul-87

Nov-88

Mar-90

Aug-91 Year

Dec-92

May-94

Sep-95

Feb-97

Indian Ocean CFC-12

CFC-12 Actual and Theoretical Concentrations Vs. Time
1.6 Jan-95 1.4 Jul-95 Dec-87 1.2 Nov-87 Feb-96 Jun-95

CFC-12 Concentration [pmol/kg]

0.8

CFC-12 Actual CFC-12 Theoretical

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 Feb-86

Jul-87

Nov-88

Mar-90

Aug-91 Year

Dec-92

May-94

Sep-95

Feb-97

Future Work
Calculate CFC-12 Actual and Theoretical
Concentrations over time for same region and compare

Seasonal averages from Indian Ocean; would

produce more accurate results as well as possible information about CFC saturation differences between different times of year

Future Work (cont.)

Repeat process on different areas around Indian
Ocean with time overlap to achieve a more complete view

Repeat for other bodies of water, such as the

North Atlantic or South Pacific Oceans