| 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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