Modeling the Molecular Weight and Age Distribution of Marine Dissolved Organic Carbon

Jeannesse Senoreses Cochran, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States, Francois Primeau, University of California Irvine, Earth System Science, Irvine, CA, United States and Brett D Walker, University of California Irvine, Earth System Science, Irvine, United States

Contact First Author: Jeannesse Senoreses Cochran; jscochra@uci.edu

Abstract ID#: 35458

 

English Abstract:
With 662 GtC, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool in the ocean is an important carbon reservoir for the Earth system, but the processes that control its cycling rate are poorly understood. Recent measurements have reported a possible relationship between the molecular size and radiocarbon age of the material. As a step towards exploring this relationship, we combine a random scission model and the Smoluchowski mean-field coagulation equations to derive a mathematical model for the molecular size distribution and radiocarbon content of DOC. The model allows us to predict the transient and equilibrium joint distribution for molecular size and age of DOC. We use the model to explore the sensitivity of the equilibrium distribution to changes in the size dependent random scission and coagulation rates.
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