Further observations of a decreasing atmospheric CO2 uptake capacity

• Main Authors: D. G. Barber, K. Brown, L. A. Miller, A. Mucci
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; canada basin; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.635.5982; http://hal-ups-tlse.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/01/01/50/45/PDF/Else_et_al._GRL_2013.pdf

[1] Using data collected in 2009, we evaluated the potential for the southeastern Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean) to act as an atmospheric CO2 sink under the summertime ice-free conditions expected in the near future. Beneath a heavily decayed ice cover, we found surprisingly high pCO2sw (~290–320matm), considering that surface water temperatures were low and the influence of ice melt was strong. A simple model simulating melt of the remaining ice and exposure of the surface water for 100 days revealed a weak capacity for atmospheric CO2 uptake (mean flux: 2.4mmolm2 d1), due largely to warming of the shallow mixed layer. Our results confirm a previous finding that the Canada Basin is not a significant sink of atmospheric CO2 under summertime ice-free conditions and that increased ventilation of the surface mixed layer due to sea ice loss is weakening the sink