Long-term (1977-1997) measurements of carbon dioxide in the Eastern North Atlantic: Evaluation of anthropogenic input

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Ríos, Aida F., Pérez, Fiz F., Fraga, Fernando
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2001
• Subjects: Labrador Sea; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/53184; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(00)00182-X

13 páginas, 3 tablas, 4 figuras, 1 apéndice From 1977to 1997CO parameters were measured in the Eastern North Atlantic Ocean. A data set of 12 cruises carried out between 373N and 473N, 203Wand the Iberian Peninsula coast, were used to estimate the anthropogenic carbon (C ) based on a back-calculation technique, with the aim of evaluating its temporal evolution in that 20-year period. The rate of change of the integrated C down to 2000m was 0.95 molm yr . Half of this input corresponds to a direct uptake of atmospheric CO (0.48 molm yr ), while the other half enters by advection. The C advected by the Mediterranean Water (MW) is the most important contributor to the total C advected into the area, representing 59% (0.27$0.09 molm yr ), whereas the Labrador Sea Water contributes only 15% (0.07$0.04 molm yr ). The particular formation mechanism of MW explains its high content of advected C . When MW is formed in the Gulf of CaH diz, 85% of Central Water is entrained by sinking of the Mediterranean Over#ow Water. Central Waters have about 50 mol kg of C thus this entrainment represents 0.07GtC yr , which is about 26% of the C transported by the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic. This work was supported by grant number CICYT MAR97-0660. Peer reviewed