Dear Mr. Bischoff

Thank you again for submitting the above manuscript to Biogeosciences. It has been expertly refereed by three referees who all found merit in your study. Nonetheless, a number of concerns were raised that precluded acceptance in its present form.

In your very long and detailed response letter you have commented on these concerns in the Interactive Discussion. In general, you followed the suggestions of the referees. In addition, I was happy to see that you could clarify critical issues in the introduction (raised by Referee 3) and that you restructured parts of the text.

Thus, the revised version of your manuscript can be published in Biogeosciences without further delay.

Your interest in publishing in Biogeosciences is very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Kirsten Küsel

(Co-Editor)