Productivity of the Ocean: Present and Past (Dahlem Workshop Reports-(LS) Life Sciences)

Presents the proceedings of a Dahlem workshop held in Berlin, April 1988. Considers ocean mechanisms affecting the amount of atmospheric CO2 over thousands of years, especially fluctuating ocean productivity. Assesses the state-of-knowledge of the processes that lead to the export of organic matter from the ocean's photic zone, its transit to the sea floor, and its burial within the sediment. Also considers how to model atmospheric fluctuations of CO2 on medium to long time scales. Reveals how ocean productivity changes through time and how it can be reconstructed from the biogenous signals in the sediments. Illustrated.