Further observations of a decreasing atmospheric CO2 uptake capacity in the Canada Basin (arctic Ocean) due to sea ice loss

• Main Authors: Else, B.G.T., Galley, R.J., Lansard, B., Barber, D.G., Brown, K., Miller, L.A., Mucci, A., Papakyriakou, T.N., Tremblay, J.-È., Rysgaard, Søren
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Tremblay; canada basin; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/a9d6a7d0-3eb7-4462-9840-299f058a2427; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50268/pdf

[1] Using data collected in 2009, we evaluated the potential for the southeastern Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean) to act as an atmospheric CO2 sink under the summertime ice-free conditions expected in the near future. Beneath a heavily decayed ice cover, we found surprisingly high pCO2sw (~290–320matm), considering that surface water temperatures were low and the influence of ice melt was strong. A simple model simulating melt of the remaining ice and exposure of the surface water for 100 days revealed a weak capacity for atmospheric CO2 uptake (mean flux: 2.4 mmol m2 d1), due largely to warming of the shallow mixed layer. Our results confirm a previous finding that the Canada Basin is not a significant sink of atmospheric CO2 under summertime ice-free conditions and that increased ventilation of the surface mixed layer due to sea ice loss is weakening the sink even further. Citation: Else, B. G. T., R. J. Galley, B. Lansard, D. G. Barber, K. Brown, L. A. Miller, A. Mucci, T. N. Papakyriakou, J.-É. Tremblay, and S. Rysgaard (2013), Further observations of a decreasing atmospheric CO2 uptake capacity in the Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean) due to sea ice loss, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 1132–1137, doi:10.1002/grl.50268.