Air‐sea CO 2 fluxes along the coast of Chile: From CO 2 outgassing in central northern upwelling waters to CO 2 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 CO 2 fluxes in the coastal waters of the eastern South Pacific. Chilean coastal waters are characterized by strong p CO 2 gradients between the atmosphere and the surface water, with high spatial and temporal variability. On average, the direction of the carbon flux changes from CO 2 outgassing at the coastal upwelling region to CO 2 sequestering at the nonupwelling fjord region in Chilean Patagonia. Estimations of surface water p CO 2 along the Patagonian fjord region showed that, while minimum p CO 2 levels (strong CO 2 undersaturation) occurs during the spring and summer period, maximum levels (including CO 2 supersaturation) occur during the austral winter. CO 2 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 CO 2 during that season. We suggest that the CO 2 sink at Patagonia most probably exceeds the CO 2 source exerted by the coastal upwelling system off central northern Chile.