The carbon budget of the North Sea

A carbon budget has been established for the North Sea, a shelf sea of the NW European continental shelf. The air-sea exchange of CO 2 has been assessed as closing term of the budget. The carbon exchange fluxes with the North Atlantic Ocean dominate the gross carbon budget. The net carbon budget - m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., de Baar, H.J.W., Elkalay, K., Frankignoulle, M., Schiettecatte, L.-S., Borges, A.V.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Air-water exchanges
Carbon
Carbon cycle
Carbon sinks
ANE
North Sea
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/66888.pdf
Description
Summary:A carbon budget has been established for the North Sea, a shelf sea of the NW European continental shelf. The air-sea exchange of CO 2 has been assessed as closing term of the budget. 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 dominant carbon sink is the final export to the North Atlantic Ocean. The North Sea acts as a sink for organic carbon. 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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