CARBON DIOXIDE OF THE OCEAN 613 
peratures the decrease in the partial pressure of the atmospheric 
CO, has practically no dissociating effect upon the bicarbonates 
of the ocean, and therefore that the large increase in the 
capacity for absorbing CO, is not affected by the diminishing 
partial pressure. 
To sum up then: (1) the increase in the ocean’s capacity for 
CO, at low temperatures, and (2) the invasions of the polar 
waters toward the equator, both tend directly to rob the atmos- 
phere of CO,, unaffected by any diminishing partial pressure of 
that gas. In the temperate waters the effects of increasing cold 
and decreasing partial pressure seem to be fairly evenly bal- 
anced, with a possible advantage for the diminishing partial 
pressure, against which must be reckoned a decrease in the 
amount of these waters. In the equatorial waters the effect of 
the decreasing partial pressure exceeds that of falling tempera- 
ture, counterbalanced by a large decrease in the amount of 
these waters. 
This division of the ocean with three belts shows us clearly 
the factors in the problem, but does not give us means by which 
to find the relative values of these factors—that is, to show us 
whether or not the intensifying factors, such as falling tempera- 
ture and increasing areas of polar waters and decreasing areas 
of equatorial waters, more than counteract the effect of the 
diminishing partial pressure of the CO, over the temperate and 
equatorial waters. 
In order to get some rough comparative value of these fac- 
tors without pretending to get any accurate quantitative estimate 
of their actual value, we have tried to estimate the volume of the 
ocean water, whose temperature is reduced from 7° to 2°, from 
12° to 7° and from temperatures above 12°, etc., and to calcu- 
late the amount of CO, these volumes of the waters can absorb 
on account of their lower temperature on the one hand and to 
estimate the greatest amount of CO, that might be freed from 
the tropical waters compatible with their restricted volumes on 
the other hand. 
As shown in Fig. 6, we have assumed that the polar waters 
