Increased CO2 uptake due to sea ice growth and decay in the Nordic Seas

The uptake rates of atmospheric CO2 in the Nordic Seas are among the highest in the world's oceans. This has been ascribed mainly to a strong biological drawdown, but chemical processes within the sea ice itself have also been suggested to play a role. The importance of sea ice for the carbon u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research
Main Authors: Rysgaard, S., Bendtsen, J., Pedersen, L. T., Ramløv, H., Glud, Ronnie Nøhr
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Greenland
East Greenland
east greenland current
Nordic Seas
Sea ice
Online Access:https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/increased-co2-uptake-due-to-sea-ice-growth-and-decay-in-the-nordic-seas(ea0bb7d0-fad8-11de-825d-000ea68e967b).html
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC005088
Description
Summary:The uptake rates of atmospheric CO2 in the Nordic Seas are among the highest in the world's oceans. This has been ascribed mainly to a strong biological drawdown, but chemical processes within the sea ice itself have also been suggested to play a role. The importance of sea ice for the carbon uptake in the Nordic Seas is currently unknown. We present evidence from 50 localities in the Arctic Ocean that dissolved inorganic carbon is rejected together with brine from growing sea ice and that sea ice melting during summer is rich in carbonates. Model calculations show that melting of sea ice exported from the Arctic Ocean into the East Greenland current and the Nordic Seas plays an important and overlooked role in regulating the surface water partial pressure of CO2 and increases the seasonal CO2 uptake in the area by approximately 50%.

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