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The seasonal cycle of ocean‐atmosphere CO 2 flux in Ryder Bay, west Antarctic Peninsula
Author(s) -
Legge Oliver J.,
Bakker Dorothee C. E.,
Johnson Martin T.,
Meredith Michael P.,
Venables Hugh J.,
Brown Peter J.,
Lee Gareth A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl063796
Subject(s) - oceanography , bay , sink (geography) , outgassing , carbon sink , carbon dioxide , environmental science , sea ice , carbon cycle , peninsula , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , climatology , atmospheric sciences , geology , climate change , geography , ecosystem , chemistry , ecology , cartography , organic chemistry , archaeology , biology
Approximately 15 million km 2 of the Southern Ocean is seasonally ice covered, yet the processes affecting carbon cycling and gas exchange in this climatically important region remain inadequately understood. Here, 3 years of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) measurements and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) fluxes from Ryder Bay on the west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) are presented. During spring and summer, primary production in the surface ocean promotes atmospheric CO 2 uptake. In winter, higher DIC, caused by net heterotrophy and vertical mixing with Circumpolar Deep Water, results in outgassing of CO 2 from the ocean. Ryder Bay is found to be a net sink of atmospheric CO 2 of 0.90–1.39 mol Cm −2 yr −1 (average of 3 years). Seasonal sea ice cover modifies the net annual CO 2 uptake, but its effect on gas exchange remains poorly constrained. A reduction in sea ice on the WAP shelf may reduce the strength of the oceanic CO 2 sink in this region.
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