Open AccessExploring continental margin carbon fluxes on a global scale
Author(s) -
Liu K.K.,
Atkinson L.,
Chen C. T. A.,
Gao S.,
Hall J.,
MacDonald R. W.,
McManus L. Talaue,
Quiñones R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/eo081i052p00641-01
Subject(s) - environmental science , sink (geography) , carbon flux , carbon sink , continental margin , flux (metallurgy) , oceanography , climate change , atmospheric sciences , carbon cycle , climatology , geography , geology , chemistry , ecology , ecosystem , biology , paleontology , tectonics , cartography , organic chemistry
How quickly anthropogenic CO 2 is being absorbed by the ocean remains one of the most critical and yet unanswered questions asked by climate researchers. Since the ocean is a major sink of anthropogenic CO 2 ,an accurate estimate of the present oceanic uptake rate of anthropogenic CO 2 is essential for reliable prediction of future atmospheric CO 2 . This number is difficult to pin down because the net airto‐sea CO 2 flux is a small difference (about 2 Pg C yr −1 , 1 Pg = 10 15 g) between two huge fluxes—namely, the uptake and the release of CO 2 at sea surface (each about 90 Pg C yr −1 ).