Ocean-atmosphere turbulent CO2 fluxes at Drake Passage and Bransfield Strait

• Published in: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
• Main Authors: CELINA CÂNDIDA F. RODRIGUES, MARCELO F. SANTINI, LUCIANA S. LIMA, UESLEI ADRIANO SUTIL, JONAS T. CARVALHO, MYLENE JEAN CABRERA, ELIANA B. ROSA, JACOB W. BURNS, LUCIANO P. PEZZI
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2023
• Subjects: carbon flux; sea-air interaction; carbon sinks; Antarctic Peninsula; Science; Q; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Drake Passage; Bransfield Strait; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202320220652; https://doaj.org/article/59ec102f171e427381c8ee5cc65f7ad3

Abstract The oceans play an important role in mitigating climate change by acting as large carbon sinks, especially at high latitude regions. The Southern Ocean plays a major role in the global carbon dioxide (CO2) budget. This work aims to investigate the behavior of turbulent CO2 fluxes and quantify it under different atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the Drake Passage and Bransfield Strait regions on high spatiotemporal resolutions when compared with traditional CO2 fluxes estimations. The atmospheric stability condition was used to corroborate the description of CO2 fluxes. In situ, satellite, and reanalysis data from 08 to 22 November 2018, were used in this work. The Bransfield Strait uptaked 38.59% more CO2 than the Drake Passage due to the cold and fresh waters, allied to the influence of glacial meltwater dilution. Which increased the CO2 solubility, directing the CO2 fluxes to the ocean. The Bransfield Strait had predominantly stable atmospheric conditions, which contributed to this region acting as a CO2 sink. The Drake Passage, on average, behaved as a CO2 sink, mainly due to physical characteristics. This research contributes to a better understanding of the Southern Ocean’s role in the global carbon balance on scales that are very difficult to monitor.