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Dissolved inorganic carbon budgets in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic in the 2000s from in situ data
Author(s) -
Zunino Patricia,
Lherminier Pascale,
Mercier Herlé,
Padín Xose A.,
Ríos Aida F.,
Pérez Fiz F.
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 - 10.1002/2015gl066243
Subject(s) - carbon cycle , carbon fibers , ant , environmental science , carbon flux , advection , dissolved organic carbon , atmosphere (unit) , biological pump , oceanography , carbon dioxide , deep sea , ecology , geology , geography , meteorology , biology , materials science , ecosystem , physics , composite number , composite material , thermodynamics
The subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is important in the global carbon cycle because of the deep water ventilation processes that lead to both high uptake of atmospheric CO 2 and large inventories of anthropogenic CO 2 (C ant ). Thus, it is crucial to understand its response to increasing anthropogenic pressures. In this work, the budgets of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), C ant and natural DIC (DIC nat ) in the eastern SPNA in the 2000s, are jointly analyzed using in situ data. The DIC nat budget is found to be in steady state, confirming a long‐standing hypothesis from in situ data for the first time. The biological activity is driving the uptake of natural CO 2 from the atmosphere. The C ant increase in the ocean is solely responsible of the DIC storage rate which is explained by advection of C ant from the subtropics (65%) and C ant air‐sea flux (35%). These results demonstrate that the C ant is accumulating in the SPNA without affecting the natural carbon cycle.