Dissolved inorganic carbon budgets in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic in the 2000s from in situ data. Issue 22 (19th November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zunino, Patricia; Lherminier, Pascale; Mercier, Herlé; Padín, Xose A.; Ríos, Aida F.; Pérez, Fiz F.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 42:Issue 22(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 9853
• Page End: 9861
• Publication Date: 2015-11-19
• Subjects: dissolved inorganic carbon -- anthropogenic CO2 -- subpolar North Atlantic -- air‐sea flux -- storage rate -- budget; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/2015GL066243
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract: The subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is important in the global carbon cycle because of the deep water ventilation processes that lead to both high uptake of atmospheric CO2 and large inventories of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant ). Thus, it is crucial to understand its response to increasing anthropogenic pressures. In this work, the budgets of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), Cant and natural DIC (DICnat ) in the eastern SPNA in the 2000s, are jointly analyzed using in situ data. The DICnat budget is found to be in steady state, confirming a long‐standing hypothesis from in situ data for the first time. The biological activity is driving the uptake of natural CO2 from the atmosphere. The Cant increase in the ocean is solely responsible of the DIC storage rate which is explained by advection of Cant from the subtropics (65%) and Cant air‐sea flux (35%). These results demonstrate that the Cant is accumulating in the SPNA without affecting the natural carbon cycle. Key Points: We analyzed the DIC, Cant, and DICnat budgets in the eastern SPNA in the 2000s from in situ data The DIC storage was the result of the anthropogenic perturbation The DICnat budget was in steady state. The biology drove the air‐sea flux of natural CO2