Variability and trends in surface seawater pCO2 and CO2 flux in the Pacific Ocean

Thumbnail Image
Date
2017-06-12
Authors
Sutton, Adrienne J.
Wanninkhof, Rik
Sabine, Christopher L.
Feely, Richard A.
Cronin, Meghan F.
Weller, Robert A.
Alternative Title
Date Created
Location
DOI
10.1002/2017GL073814
Related Materials
Replaces
Replaced By
Keywords
Sea-air CO2 flux
Surface ocean pCO2
Ocean carbon
Anthropogenic change
Abstract
Variability and change in the ocean sink of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) have implications for future climate and ocean acidification. Measurements of surface seawater CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) and wind speed from moored platforms are used to calculate high-resolution CO2 flux time series. Here we use the moored CO2 fluxes to examine variability and its drivers over a range of time scales at four locations in the Pacific Ocean. There are significant surface seawater pCO2, salinity, and wind speed trends in the North Pacific subtropical gyre, especially during winter and spring, which reduce CO2 uptake over the 10 year record of this study. Starting in late 2013, elevated seawater pCO2 values driven by warm anomalies cause this region to be a net annual CO2 source for the first time in the observational record, demonstrating how climate forcing can influence the timing of an ocean region shift from CO2 sink to source.
Description
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 44 (2017): 5627–5636, doi:10.1002/2017GL073814.
Embargo Date
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters 44 (2017): 5627–5636
Cruises
Cruise ID
Cruise DOI
Vessel Name