Anomalous chlorofluorocarbon uptake by mesoscale eddies in the Drake Passage region

Abstract

The role of mesoscale eddies in the uptake of anthropogenic chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) gas is investigated with a 1/20° eddy-resolving numerical ocean model of a region of the Southern Ocean. With a relatively fast air-sea equilibrium time scale (about a month), the air-sea CFC-11 flux quickly responds to the changes in the mixed layer CFC-11 partial pressure (pCFC-11). At the mesoscale, significant correlations are observed between pCFC-11 anomaly, anomalies in sea surface temperature (SST), net heat flux, and mixed layer depth. An eddy-centric analysis of the simulated CFC-11 field suggests that anticyclonic warm-core eddies generate negative pCFC-11 anomalies and cyclonic cold-core eddies generate positive anomalies of pCFC-11. Surface pCFC-11 is modulated by mixed layer dynamics in addition to CFC-11 air-sea fluxes. A negative cross correlation between mixed layer depth and surface pCFC-11 anomalies is linked to higher CFC-11 uptake in anticyclones and lower CFC-11 uptake in cyclones, especially in winter. An almost exact asymmetry in the air-sea CFC-11 flux between cyclones and anticyclones is found.