Air-sea CO2 fluxes along the coast of Chile: From CO2 outgassing in central northern upwelling waters to CO2 uptake in southern Patagonian fjords

Carbon system parameters measured during several expeditions along the coast of Chile (23°S–56°S) have been used to show the main spatial and temporal trends of air‐sea CO2 fluxes in the coastal waters of the eastern South Pacific. Chilean coastal waters are characterized by strong pCO2 gradients be...

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Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 2011-09, Vol.116 (C9), p.n/a
Main Authors: Torres, Rodrigo, Pantoja, Silvio, Harada, Naomi, González, Humberto E., Daneri, Giovanni, Frangopulos, Máximo, Rutllant, José A., Duarte, Carlos M., Rúiz-Halpern, Sergio, Mayol, Eva, Fukasawa, Masao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
air-sea CO2 exchanges
Atmospheric sciences
Carbon dioxide
Chile
Climate change
coastal upwelling
Coastal waters
Cryosphere
Earth
Fjords
Geobiology
Geodetics
Geophysics
Glaciers
Marine
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Oceans
Patagonia
Spring
Summer
Supersaturation
Surface water
Upwelling
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Summary:Carbon system parameters measured during several expeditions along the coast of Chile (23°S–56°S) have been used to show the main spatial and temporal trends of air‐sea CO2 fluxes in the coastal waters of the eastern South Pacific. Chilean coastal waters are characterized by strong pCO2 gradients between the atmosphere and the surface water, with high spatial and temporal variability. On average, the direction of the carbon flux changes from CO2 outgassing at the coastal upwelling region to CO2 sequestering at the nonupwelling fjord region in Chilean Patagonia. Estimations of surface water pCO2 along the Patagonian fjord region showed that, while minimum pCO2 levels (strong CO2 undersaturation) occurs during the spring and summer period, maximum levels (including CO2 supersaturation) occur during the austral winter. CO2 uptake in the Patagonia fjord region during spring‐summer is within the order of −5 mol C m−2 yr−1, indicating a significant regional sink of atmospheric CO2 during that season. We suggest that the CO2 sink at Patagonia most probably exceeds the CO2 source exerted by the coastal upwelling system off central northern Chile. Key Points Strong CO2 outgassing at the coastal upwelling of Chile Strong CO2 uptake at the fjord region of Chile Freshwater inputs to the Pacific Patagonia coastal ocean enhance CO2 uptake
ISSN:0148-0227
2169-9275
2156-2202
2169-9291
DOI:10.1029/2010JC006344