Surface Water pCO2 Variations and Sea‐Air CO2 Fluxes During Summer in the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Based on a 2 year data set, the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay appear to be a modest summertime sink of atmospheric CO2. We measured surface water CO2 partial pressure (pCO2), salinity, and temperature throughout northern Baffin Bay, Nares Strait, and Lancaster Sound from the CCG...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of geophysical research. Oceans 2017-12, Vol.122 (12), p.9663-9678
Main Authors: Burgers, T. M., Miller, L. A., Thomas, H., Else, B. G. T., Gosselin, M., Papakyriakou, T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkalinity
Archipelagoes
Arctic Ocean
Baffin Bay
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations
Carbon dioxide flux
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll a
CO2 flux
Cruises
Fluxes
Freshwater
Geophysics
Ice melting
Inland water environment
Isotopes
Nares Strait
Oxygen
Oxygen isotopes
Partial pressure
Primary production
Sea ice
Sea surface temperature
Straits
Summer
Surface temperature
Surface water
surface water pCO2
Variability
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Summary:Based on a 2 year data set, the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay appear to be a modest summertime sink of atmospheric CO2. We measured surface water CO2 partial pressure (pCO2), salinity, and temperature throughout northern Baffin Bay, Nares Strait, and Lancaster Sound from the CCGS Amundsen during its 2013 and 2014 summer cruises. Surface water pCO2 displayed considerable variability (144–364 μatm) but never exceeded atmospheric concentrations, and average calculated CO2 fluxes in 2013 and 2014 were −12 and −3 mmol C m−2 d−1 (into the ocean), respectively. Ancillary measurements of chlorophyll a reveal low summertime productivity in surface waters. Based on total alkalinity and stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) data, a strong riverine signal in northern Nares Strait coincided with relatively high surface pCO2, whereas areas of sea‐ice melt occur with low surface pCO2. Further assessments, extending the seasonal observation period, are needed to properly constrain both seasonal and annual CO2 fluxes in this region. Key Points Surface waters of northern Baffin Bay and the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago represent a modest sink of atmospheric CO2 during summer Surface water pCO2 variability is linked to freshwater inputs and surface temperature, primary production plays a more minor role
ISSN:2169-9275
2169-9291
DOI:10.1002/2017JC013250