The carbon budget of the North Sea

A carbon budget has been established for the North Sea, a shelf sea on the NW European continental shelf. The carbon exchange fluxes with the North Atlantic Ocean dominate the gross carbon budget. The net carbon budget – more relevant to the issue of the contribution of the coastal ocean to the mari...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biogeosciences
Main Authors: Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., Baar, H. J. W., Elkalay, K., Frankignoulle, M., Schiettecatte, L.-S., Kattner, G., Borges, A. V.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2-87-2005
https://www.biogeosciences.net/2/87/2005/
Description
Summary:A carbon budget has been established for the North Sea, a shelf sea on the NW European continental shelf. The carbon exchange fluxes with the North Atlantic Ocean dominate the gross carbon budget. The net carbon budget – more relevant to the issue of the contribution of the coastal ocean to the marine carbon cycle – is dominated by the carbon inputs from rivers, the Baltic Sea and the atmosphere. The North Sea acts as a sink for organic carbon and thus can be characterised as a heterotrophic system. The dominant carbon sink is the final export to the North Atlantic Ocean. More than 90% of the CO 2 taken up from the atmosphere is exported to the North Atlantic Ocean making the North Sea a highly efficient continental shelf pump for carbon.

Similar Items