Dissolved inorganic carbon budgets in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic in the 2000s from in situ data

The subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is important in the global carbon cycle because of the deep water ventilation processes that lead to both high uptake of atmospheric CO2 and large inventories of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant). Thus, it is crucial to understand its response to increasing anthropogenic pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Zunino, Patricia, Lherminier, Pascale, Mercier, Herlé, Padín, Xose A., Ríos, Aida F., Pérez, Fiz F.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: AGU (American Geophysical Union) 2015
Subjects:
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/34437/
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/34437/1/grl53670.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066243
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Summary:The subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is important in the global carbon cycle because of the deep water ventilation processes that lead to both high uptake of atmospheric CO2 and large inventories of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant). Thus, it is crucial to understand its response to increasing anthropogenic pressures. In this work, the budgets of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), Cant and natural DIC (DICnat) in the eastern SPNA in the 2000s, are jointly analyzed using in situ data. The DICnat budget is found to be in steady state, confirming a long-standing hypothesis from in situ data for the first time. The biological activity is driving the uptake of natural CO2 from the atmosphere. The Cant increase in the ocean is solely responsible of the DIC storage rate which is explained by advection of Cant from the subtropics (65%) and Cant air-sea flux (35%). These results demonstrate that the Cant is accumulating in the SPNA without affecting the natural carbon cycle.

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