Observed trends of pCO2 and air-sea CO2 fluxes in the North Atlantic Ocean

• Published in: International journal of marine science 2014-12, Vol.4 (72)
• Main Authors: Benson, Nsikak U, Osibanjo, Oladele O, Asuquo, Francis E, Anake, Winifred U
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Marine
• ISSN: 1927-6648

Observed partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and temperature data in surface and mixed layer seawater of the Northeast (49oN, 16.5oW) and Northwest (56.5oN, 52.6oW) Atlantic Ocean time series sites have been analyzed for seasonal variability and air-sea CO2 fluxes. The NE PAP data showed an annual mean pCO2 of 335.9 ± 89.6 matm (2003), 286.7 ± 103.5 matm (2004), and 335.9 ± 89.6 matm (2005). The annual data for NW KI deployments indicated annual pCO2 average of 336.6 ± 14.3 and 359.1 ± 25.3 matm for 2004 and 2005 respectively. The oceanic pCO2distribution across the spatial gradients over a seasonal timescale is relatively homogeneous with marked seasonal variability. These data indicated consistently the undersaturation of oceanic surface water at the sites and thus a perennial carbon sink. Sea surface pCO2 trend is marked by summertime minimum and wintertime maximum, while depicting anti-phase patterns with the observed temperature signals. Seasonal to annual CO2 fluxes indicated a year-round CO2 invasion of the NE and NW basins. Estimated net basin-scale CO2 uptake fluxes of 2.96 ± 1.73 and 1.84 ± 1.3 mol m-2 CO2 a-1 were obtained for NE PAP (2nd - 4th) and NW K1 deployments, respectively.