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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: H. Thomas, Y. Bozec, H. J. W. de Baar, K. Elkalay, M. Frankignoulle, L.-S. Schiettecatte, G. Kattner, A. V. Borges
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2005
Subjects:
Ecology
QH540-549.5
Life
QH501-531
Geology
QE1-996.5
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/ef0fd7de3b984f43b3235a2a3c2c40f5
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.

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