Mechanisms governing interannual variability in upper-ocean inorganic carbon system and air–sea CO2 fluxes: Physical climate and atmospheric dust

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Doney, Scott C, Lima, Ivan, Feely, Richard A, Glover, David M, Lindsay, Keith, Mahowald, Natalie, Moore, J Keith, Wanninkhof, Rik
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2009
• Subjects: Climate Action; Carbon cycle; Numerical model; Air-sea CO2 flux; Interannual variability; Iron limitation; Atmospheric dust; Geochemistry; Oceanography; Ecology; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9pg2f52v; https://escholarship.org/content/qt9pg2f52v/qt9pg2f52v.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.12.006

We quantify the mechanisms governing interannual variability in the global, upper-ocean inorganic carbon system using a hindcast simulation (1979-2004) of an ecosystem-biogeochemistry model forced with time-evolving atmospheric physics and dust deposition. We analyze the variability of three key, interrelated metrics-air-sea CO2 flux, surface-water carbon dioxide partial pressure pCO2, and upper-ocean dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) inventory-presenting for each metric global spatial maps of the root mean square (rms) of anomalies from a model monthly climatology. The contribution of specific driving factors is diagnosed using Taylor expansions and linear regression analysis. The major regions of variability occur in the Southern Ocean, tropical Indo-Pacific, and Northern Hemisphere temperate and subpolar latitudes. Ocean circulation is the dominant factor driving variability over most of the ocean, modulating surface dissolved inorganic carbon that in turn alters surface-water pCO2 and air-sea CO2 flux variability (global integrated anomaly rms of 0.34 Pg C yr-1). Biological export and thermal solubility effects partially damp circulation-driven pCO2 variability in the tropics, while in the subtropics, thermal solubility contributes positively to surface-water pCO2 and air-sea CO2 flux variability. Gas transfer and net freshwater inputs induce variability in the air-sea CO2 flux in some specific regions. A component of air-sea CO2 flux variability (global integrated anomaly rms of 0.14 Pg C yr-1) arises from variations in biological export production induced by variations in atmospheric iron deposition downwind of dust source regions. Beginning in the mid-1990s, reduced global dust deposition generates increased air-sea CO2 outgassing in the Southern Ocean, consistent with trends derived from atmospheric CO2 inversions. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd.