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AGU: Journal of Geophysical Research, Oceans

 

Index Terms

  • Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Carbon cycling
  • Oceanography: Physical: General circulation
  • Oceanography: General: Water masses
  • Hydrology: Anthropogenic effects
Abstract
Cited By (10)
 

Abstract

Carbon distribution, fluxes, and budgets in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean (24.5°N)

G. Rosón

Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain

A. F. Ríos

Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Vigo, Spain

F. F. Pérez

Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Vigo, Spain

A. Lavín

Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Santander, Spain

H. L. Bryden

Southampton Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

Hydrographic CO2 system data obtained from World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) transatlantic zonal section A5 across 24.5°N and Florida Straits are described. By combining CO2 measurements with hydrographic velocity calculations, the zonal and vertical variability of meridional fluxes of total alkalinity (TA), total dissolved inorganic carbon (TIC), and anthropogenic CO2 (δC) are estimated. The resulting CO2 fluxes are examined in four geostrophic mid-ocean zones as well as in the Gulf Stream flow through Florida Straits and in the surface ageostrophic Ekman flow. This method allows an estimate of the net budgets of these chemical species in the system considering together the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans north of 24.5°N. Taking into account the net flux contribution through Bering Strait, total meridional transports of chemical properties across 24.5°N latitude are also estimated. The slightly divergent net TA budget (−460 ± 200 kmol s−1) suggests that the North Atlantic is a small alkalinity source. The divergent TIC budget (−2430 ± 200 kmol s−1 or −0.92 ± 0.08 GtC yr−1) suggests that the North Atlantic is a source of TIC and therefore a net sink for atmospheric CO2. This value is twice as large as a previous estimation made from a poorly sampled section. Surprisingly, the North Atlantic Ocean appears to act as a net sink of anthropogenic CO2 (+630 ± 200 kmol s−1 or +0.24 ± 0.08 GtC yr−1) and therefore a weak source of anthropogenic CO2 to the atmosphere. Its main contributor is the intense northward flux in the Florida Current (+1280 ± 100 kmol s−1). The calculations imply a divergent inorganic carbon budget of −3060 ± 200 kmol s−1 or −1.16 ± 0.08 GtC yr−1 in preindustrial times (TIC278, when the molar fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere was 278.2 ppm). This means that the North Atlantic would have had a 25% stronger divergence of TIC prior to the beginning of anthropogenic CO2 penetration.

Received 10 August 1999; accepted 21 February 2003; published 14 May 2003.

Citation: Rosón, G., A. F. Ríos, F. F. Pérez, A. Lavín, and H. L. Bryden (2003), Carbon distribution, fluxes, and budgets in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean (24.5°N), J. Geophys. Res., 108(C5), 3144, doi:10.1029/1999JC000047.

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