Anthropogenic carbon distributions in the Atlantic Ocean: data-based estimates from the Arctic to the Antarctic

Five of the most recent observational methods to estimate anthropogenic CO 2 (C ant ) are applied to a high-quality dataset from five representative sections of the Atlantic Ocean extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Between latitudes 60° N–40° S all methods give similar spatial distributions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biogeosciences
Main Authors: Vázquez-Rodríguez, M., Touratier, F., Monaco, C., Waugh, D. W., Padin, X. A., Bellerby, R. G. J., Goyet, C., Metzl, N., Ríos, A. F., Pérez, F. F.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Antarctic
Arctic
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Nordic Seas
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-6-439-2009
https://www.biogeosciences.net/6/439/2009/
Description
Summary:Five of the most recent observational methods to estimate anthropogenic CO 2 (C ant ) are applied to a high-quality dataset from five representative sections of the Atlantic Ocean extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Between latitudes 60° N–40° S all methods give similar spatial distributions and magnitude of C ant . However, discrepancies are found in some regions, in particular in the Southern Ocean and Nordic Seas. The differences in the Southern Ocean have a significant impact on the anthropogenic carbon inventories. The calculated total inventories of C ant for the Atlantic referred to 1994 vary from 48 to 67 Pg (10 15 g) of carbon, with an average of 54±8 Pg C, which is higher than previous estimates. These results, both the detailed C ant distributions and extrapolated inventories, will help to evaluate biogeochemical ocean models and coupled climate-carbon models.

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