Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021
Arctic waters play a disproportionately large role in oceanic CO2 uptake, but are most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Due to the Arctic’s limited accessibility and remote nature, oceanic CO2 data is sparse to the extent that observation-based estimates of air-sea CO2 flux have only been de...
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ftunivcalgary:oai:prism.ucalgary.ca:1880/116897 2023-10-29T02:33:47+01:00 Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 Nickoloff, Gina Mary Else, Brent Marshall, Shawn Kimura-Hara, Susana 2023-08 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116897 https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41739 en eng Graduate Studies University of Calgary Nickoloff, G. M. (2023). Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116897 https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41739 University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. air-sea CO2 fluxes Arctic Baffin Bay pCO2 Geography Oceanography Biogeochemistry master thesis 2023 ftunivcalgary https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41739 2023-10-01T17:43:08Z Arctic waters play a disproportionately large role in oceanic CO2 uptake, but are most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Due to the Arctic’s limited accessibility and remote nature, oceanic CO2 data is sparse to the extent that observation-based estimates of air-sea CO2 flux have only been derived for certain regions, leaving considerable uncertainty in the contribution of Arctic seas to global carbon budgets. Comprehensive description of surface-ocean CO2 dynamics in poorly-studied Arctic regions is needed to constrain Arctic and global carbon cycles, and to anticipate and document future change. In this thesis I provide such a novel description for the Baffin Bay region by examining the spatial and temporal distributions of surface-ocean partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) while identifying its driving physical and biogeochemical controls, and by quantifying air-sea CO2 fluxes over the region during the open-water season. Utilising an extensive continuous underway ship-based pCO2 dataset accumulated over the last decade, 2011 to 2021, I report surface-ocean pCO2 over Baffin Bay (which in this definition includes Nares Strait and the Northwater Polynya) from June to October. Baffin Bay was highly favourable to uptake of atmospheric CO2 (70 to 130 μatm below saturation, depending on the year), but had substantial regional variability in pCO2 due to hydrography and ocean currents. Over the open-water season pCO2 exhibited a temporal pattern, increasing June to October but remaining undersaturated. Through comprehensive evaluation of Baffin Bay air-sea CO2 fluxes I show that it is a notably strong uptake region, even when compared to other North American Arctic regions. Baffin Bay had an average open-water-season flux of -7.3 mmol CO2 m-2 day1, which corresponds to an estimated carbon uptake of 11.9 Tg C year-1. Ice coverage in some regions served as a barrier to uptake, particularly in the northern portions of the study region. In the future, Baffin Bay is expected to remain a strong uptake region, with ... Master Thesis Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Climate change Nares strait PRISM - University of Calgary Digital Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PRISM - University of Calgary Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgary |
language |
English |
topic |
air-sea CO2 fluxes Arctic Baffin Bay pCO2 Geography Oceanography Biogeochemistry |
spellingShingle |
air-sea CO2 fluxes Arctic Baffin Bay pCO2 Geography Oceanography Biogeochemistry Nickoloff, Gina Mary Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 |
topic_facet |
air-sea CO2 fluxes Arctic Baffin Bay pCO2 Geography Oceanography Biogeochemistry |
description |
Arctic waters play a disproportionately large role in oceanic CO2 uptake, but are most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Due to the Arctic’s limited accessibility and remote nature, oceanic CO2 data is sparse to the extent that observation-based estimates of air-sea CO2 flux have only been derived for certain regions, leaving considerable uncertainty in the contribution of Arctic seas to global carbon budgets. Comprehensive description of surface-ocean CO2 dynamics in poorly-studied Arctic regions is needed to constrain Arctic and global carbon cycles, and to anticipate and document future change. In this thesis I provide such a novel description for the Baffin Bay region by examining the spatial and temporal distributions of surface-ocean partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) while identifying its driving physical and biogeochemical controls, and by quantifying air-sea CO2 fluxes over the region during the open-water season. Utilising an extensive continuous underway ship-based pCO2 dataset accumulated over the last decade, 2011 to 2021, I report surface-ocean pCO2 over Baffin Bay (which in this definition includes Nares Strait and the Northwater Polynya) from June to October. Baffin Bay was highly favourable to uptake of atmospheric CO2 (70 to 130 μatm below saturation, depending on the year), but had substantial regional variability in pCO2 due to hydrography and ocean currents. Over the open-water season pCO2 exhibited a temporal pattern, increasing June to October but remaining undersaturated. Through comprehensive evaluation of Baffin Bay air-sea CO2 fluxes I show that it is a notably strong uptake region, even when compared to other North American Arctic regions. Baffin Bay had an average open-water-season flux of -7.3 mmol CO2 m-2 day1, which corresponds to an estimated carbon uptake of 11.9 Tg C year-1. Ice coverage in some regions served as a barrier to uptake, particularly in the northern portions of the study region. In the future, Baffin Bay is expected to remain a strong uptake region, with ... |
author2 |
Else, Brent Marshall, Shawn Kimura-Hara, Susana |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Nickoloff, Gina Mary |
author_facet |
Nickoloff, Gina Mary |
author_sort |
Nickoloff, Gina Mary |
title |
Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 |
title_short |
Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 |
title_full |
Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 |
title_fullStr |
Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 |
title_sort |
air-sea carbon dynamics in baffin bay: 2011-2021 |
publisher |
Graduate Studies |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116897 https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41739 |
genre |
Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Climate change Nares strait |
genre_facet |
Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Climate change Nares strait |
op_relation |
Nickoloff, G. M. (2023). Air-sea carbon dynamics in Baffin Bay: 2011-2021 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116897 https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41739 |
op_rights |
University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41739 |
_version_ |
1781056003158048768 |